Love's a Funny Thing
by greeneyedbaby
Summary: "But, I love you," he whispered. "No! No you don't! You don't know the first thing about love." Sam/OC and Puck/OC. Rated M for potty mouths, drugs and intense situations.
1. One Love

_**This story is written in 3**__**rd**__** person point of view, although every chapter it changes who's thoughts are in there. For example, this chapter, it's Sam's. This story also contains an OC, my character Nicole Swank, who I completely made up and isn't based on anyone that has ever or is currently on Glee. Also, this story I am cutting Lauren Zizes out of the glee club. I hate her, and her being in this story would make it harder to write. Enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: Yeah right. If I owned Glee, I'd currently be making out with Mark Salling or Chord Overstreet. But maybe someday…**_

**Chapter 1- "One Love" **

**Sam**

Sam was sad. And lonely. And annoyed, mostly with himself. His life sucked: his family was near dirt poor, his social life was shit, his grades _still _sucked, and to top it all off, he was girlfriendless. Again. He couldn't catch a damn break. The girlfriend thing hadn't really bothered him, until he realized that he had a humongous crush on an amazing girl but he didn't have the balls to ask her out.

"_Guys! Guys!," Brittany gushed, skipping into the choir room. "Mr. Schuester, I found somebody!" The usual chatter that had been filling the room abruptly stopped and everyone quit what they were doing to look up at the girl that was accompanying Brittany. _

"_What? Really?," Mr. Schue asked, putting down the music sheets he'd been shuffling with and walking over toward Brittany._

"_Yes! Her name is Nicole Swan," Brittany stated matter-of-factly, gesturing to the girl next to her._

"_Nicole Swan__**k**__," Nicole corrected. "Brittany told me about the glee club, how you needed more people and I though it sounded like fun." She surveyed the rest of the gleeks, obviously rethinking her decision. Sam took this as a moment to check out the girl. She was gorgeous.. Her bow-shaped lips were pink and pouty, eyes a sea blue, her skin was flawlessly tanned and her dirty blonde hair hung over her shoulders in beachy waves. Sam could see the expression on Quinn's face darken at the girl's beauty, her hand protectively squeezing his. _

"_She's, like a __**really **__good dancer. And a good singer."_

"_I'm more of a dancer," Nicole confessed, taking her hands out of her jeggings' pockets. "I only sing in the shower." _

"_Still!," Mr. Schue exclaimed, ecstatic. "That's great that you want to sign-up! Good job, Brit." He gave Brittany's shoulder a squeeze. "We could always use more people to join our family." _

"_Awesome," Nicole said nonchalantly. "So, when do I try-out?"_

"_Well, we don't really have try-outs. We accept anyone." _

_Her eyebrow quirked. "Really?"_

"_Yes, we believe everyone has a chance to be in the spotlight, no matter their singing ability."_

"_That's stupid," Nicole stated bluntly. Mr. Schue's smile faded. "What if my voice sucks and I totally throw off the pitch of your group? What if I sound like a dying cat?"_

"_That's how I sound," Mike chimed in. "I don't really sing, though. I just mouth the words." _

"_Oh."_

_The vibe in the room tensed, becoming awkwardly silent for a while. "So, you in?," Puck asked. _

"_Sure," Nicole said, again casually. _

"_Great!," Mr. Schue enthused, adapting his happy-go-lucky tone again. "Let's welcome our new member, Nicole Swank!" Everyone began clapping, Mercedes even let out a hoot. The only one who didn't seem excited was Quinn. She still had a scowl fixed upon her face._

"_What's wrong?," Sam concernedly asked her._

"_I don't want you talking to her, okay?," Quinn claimed, her expression stoned._

"_What? Quinn, I don't think you can really dictate who I talk to-," Sam started, but was cut off by Quinn's scowl._

"_I'm your girlfriend, right Sam?" He nodded his head. "Then you have to do what I say. And I don't want you talking to her. Ever. We clear?," she demanded, her tone icy and eyes cold. For fear of losing his newly gained girlfriend, he feebly nodded his head. "Good. Now how pretty are my eyes again?," she obnoxiously asked, batting her long eyelashes. _

Nicole had transferred to McKinley the same time Sam did, but joined glee club only a few days after he'd asked Quinn to be his girlfriend. Although Quinn never said it aloud, Sam knew that she didn't want him talking to Nicole because she was jealous. And like the floor-mat that he truly was, he'd listened. He didn't talk to Nicole at all, ending all the conversations she'd tried to start, avoiding being in a room with her alone and averting from any eye-contact with her when Quinn was around. He didn't realize how completely ridiculous he was being until a month a two later, before he'd broken up with Quinn. Santana, however malicious she may be, made Sam come to the conclusion that Quinn was walking all over him. She practically ran his life, _and _she'd cheated on him with Finn.

After dumping Quinn, he decided to go out of his way to be nice to Nicole to try to gain her approval. With a couple of pleads from forgiveness on Sam's part, she forgave him for being a douche-bag to her. Once they'd actually hung out, Sam found out that they had a ton in common. They both moved to Lima from the south, him from Tennessee and her from Texas, they'd both moved because of their dad's job, they both had a little sister, they shared a love for video games, Avatar and impressions, plus they both had killer abs and big lips.

However, there was one thing that made the two vastly different: their personalities. While they were both laid-back and light-hearted, Sam was much more timid than Nicole. Sam constantly had to keep a filter on his mouth, not wanting to offend anyone, he never said anything too bold to start an argument, and had a constant need to be popular, to be the best. Nicole could care less what anyone thought. She was loud, spoke what was on her mind, and didn't care about being popular. Also, Nicole was what most would call badass while Sam was the epitome of a 50s jock, a good obedient kid who did his homework and never talked back. But somehow, their differences made them click even more.

It had taken Sam a while to realize that those were the reasons he loved her. She was everything he wished he could be: outspoken, assertive and confident. Of course, a hot-ass girl like this didn't stay on the market for long. Puck had picked her up the moment she came in, flirting with her non-stop. The two were seen together more often than not, laughing, cutting class or occasionally slipping a stink-bomb into the teachers' lounge. Sam assumed that they were boyfriend and girlfriend by the way that they acted, also Quinn and Santana had confirmed his suspicions.

So here he was, gazing at his crush longingly from across the choir room as she danced alongside Mike, popping, locking and dropping in unison. Brit was right, Nicole was an amazing dancer. Quite possibly the best in the club. She was a good singer too, surprisingly. Her voice was full, sweet and sultry, making Sam's knees weak every time she did a vocal run. It wasn't often that she sang solos, but when she did, it made his day.

He wanted to ask her out, he wanted to so very badly. But Puck was _not _someone whose bad side you wanted to be on. He believed in revenge, very painful revenge and Sam didn't want that. Plus, Nicole looked like she was happy being with Puck. And that's all that he wanted, for her to be happy. He just wished it was with him.

Love sucks.


	2. Blame it on the Alcohol

_**Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who's alerted and favorited so far. And thank you, Oh Leah Darling, for being my first review! I really appreciate your support and I hope you like this next chapter! **_

**Chapter 2- "Blame it on the Alcohol"**

**Nicole **

"Nicholas! Oh, Nicholas!," Nicole heard her step-sister screech from downstairs. "_Nicholas!_." she repeated, getting more frustrated. Then Nicole heard the unmistakable thumps of Jennifer's black heels clomping up the steps before a hand smacked her upside the head.

"Bitch," Nicole muttered, grabbing the hand and twisting it around Jen's head.

"Ou-_ch!_ Let go of me, you ogre!" Nicole rolled her eyes at Jennifer's taunting but reluctantly let the girl go. "Didn't you hear me calling you, Nicholas?"

"First of all, Garfield, keep your hands _off _of me. Second, I didn't hear you calling me, because my name is _not _Nicholas!," she grumbled, raising her hand, readying herself to pimp slap the girl at anytime.

"Garfield? WTF?," Jen sneered.

"It means your more orange than Snooki. Come to think of it," she said, placing her black-polished fingernail to her chin, "you look _exactly _like her!"

Jen let out a gasp of breath and Nicki knew she'd hit a nerve calling her step-sister a Jersey Shore look-alike. It was true, however. With her raven black, ridiculously teased hair, orange skin and short body, she did resemble the MTV celebrity. "You, you," Jen stumbled, trying to find a worthy comeback. "You whorebag!" Nicki faked hurt, and Jen's orange skin turned red. "Mom! MOM! Nicki called me Snooki again!," the girl complained, stomping down the steps to find Nicki's awful step-mom, the chains on her Armani Exchange shirt rattling.

Nicki heard some sort of whimpering that mildly resembled talking coming from downstairs and she soon heard two pairs of feet stomping back up the steps. "How dare you categorize my daughter with that Italian-American disgrace! You should be ashamed of yourself, Nicole. All Jenny ever tries to do is be friends with you, and what do you give her in return? Insults! I swear, if I was not married to your father," Lindsay's ranting continued on for several more minutes, Jennifer standing behind her mother and nodding but snickering when Lindsay wasn't watching. All Nicki could do was sit back down on the black leather couch she'd been residing in before and tune out what Lindsay was saying. She didn't dare say anything to interrupt, she knew it would only result in a much longer lecture. "Understand?"

Nicki blinked back to reality, "yeah, Lindsay. Why not."

"You are _such _a little bitch. No wonder you have no friends," Lindsay said wickedly, turning back on her heels.

"I have friends! More than your skank of a daughter does!," she claimed, stomping her foot.

"I'm not a skank! Right, Mom?"

Lindsay just shrugged, and Jennifer's pudgy face contorted in confusion. Nicki couldn't help but giggle. "Go to your room!," Lindsay demanded pointing her long, lanky arm towards Nicki's room, causing her humungous fake silicone boobs to jiggle in her far too revealing tank top.

"You can't tell me to go to my room, you're not my mom," she claimed, folding her arms over her J-Crew sweater dress. "I'm not five."

"Well you sure as hell act like it!"

Nicki scoffed, gathering her things off of the coffee table and couch. "Whatever. Fuck both of you."

"Nicole! You do _not _use that kind of language!"

She shrugged before putting her belongings in her purse, grabbing her Coach keychain along the way. "You can bet that I'm telling your father about this when he gets home from work!," Lindsay said threateningly. She rolled her eyes. Was that the best she could do? Threaten to tell her dad? Weak.

"Bye bitches!," she yelled before descending the steps, turning a corner to get to the front door. She was stopped by a small figure standing in front of her: a little girl holding a Barbie doll, a depressing look on her face. One that was all too familiar. "Hey, Ash!," she greeted, dropping her bag and kneeling to embrace her five-year-old sister.

Ashley's mint green eyes perked up at Nicole's peppy tone, eagerly hugging her big sister. "Where are you going, Nick?," she asked excitedly, as if she hoped to come along.

"_Probably to go hang out with Puck and drink a fifth of Jack Daniels,_" she thought to herself. But thought it wasn't a response her little sister was yet ready to hear, so she just shrugged. "Dunno."

"Well, can I come?," the desperation on the little girl's face broke Nicki's heart.

"I don't think so, sweetie." Ashley's face dropped, her eyes on the verge of tears. "But I'll tell you what. If I come home early enough, I'll watch a movie with you." Ashley perked up at the thought of hanging with her sister.

"What movie?"

"Anyone you want, baby doll."

"_Sleeping Beauty?_"

Nicole groaned. She _loathed _all those sickeningly sweet Disney movies with chirping birds, happy princesses and perfect Prince Charmings. It just gave kids false hope. But the pleading look on her sister's face forced her to say, through gritted teeth, "of course." Ashley jumped up and down, the pink frilly tutu she was wearing bouncing in the wind.

"Yah! _Sleeping Beauty, Sleeping Beauty!_," Ashley chanted. Nicole rolled her eyes before getting up, kissing her sister on the top of her head and heading out the door. She got out her BlackBerry, scrolling through her contacts until she'd found the one she wanted.

"Puckerman," she said into the phone. "You doing anything right now?"

"_Who _I'm doing is probably the better question," he replied through his heaving panting.

"You serious? That's disgusting. Why would you answer the phone?"

Before he could respond, Nicole heard a nasally girl's voice interrupt. "Baby? Who _is _it?" Nicole tried to decipher who the voice belonged to, but couldn't find suitable owner.

"No one," Puck said nonchalantly. "Go back to what you were doing." A few slurping sounds came through the other end, Puck moaning slightly. Nicole shuddered and was just about to hang up the phone when Puck spoke again. "Listen, I'm a bit busy right now, but I'll call you later to hang out, okay?"

"Ew, no thanks. Go back to your BJ." She could almost hear Puck smirk before she hit the END button. Damn, that kid got a lot of ass. She smiled, before she remembered that she had no one to hang out with. Frowning, she pulled her contact list back up on her phone.

Artie, she liked the kid, but her car wasn't wheelchair accessible. Brittany, she _loved _Brittany but she could never hang out. She was too busy fucking Santana. Finn, he'd become a very close friend of hers since she moved to Lima, but he'd been a dick ever since he'd started dating Quinn. She noticed Quinn had a habit of doing that to her boyfriends. Kurt, again, too big of a prude. She wanted to have intoxicated fun. Mercedes, she turned _so _obnoxious when she got drunk. She did _not _want that kind of a situation on her hands, she didn't deal well with drunks. Mike, did that kid ever even talk? Quinn, she skipped that one real fast. Rachel, _hell _no. She wanted to drink, not sing show tunes. Sam. Huh, now _there _was an idea. She'd never seen him fucked up.

Unlocking her car and getting in the front seat, she hit the CALL button, putting the phone up to her ear and listening to the dial tone. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for Sam to pick up.

"Hello?," a weary voice came through the other end.

"Hey Sam. It's Nicole. What are you up to?"

There was a long pause before Sam answered. "Uh, nothing."

"Cool, you wanna hang out? Maybe grab some food or something?"

"No!," he answered immediately. "I mean, I'd love you hang out with you, but I can't."

Nicole's thin brown eyebrows fixated together. "I thought you said you weren't doing anything."

"Oh, uh," he stuttered, obviously trying to think of an excuse.

"Look, Sam," she cut him off. "If you don't want to hang out with me, you don't have to make up shit. I can take a hint."

"No! It's not that I want to hang with you, I told you that."

"Sure."

"It's just, I'm kind of watching my little sister right now."

"Oh," she said. She obviously understood babysitting conflictions. "Why didn't you just say that?"

"Er-"

An idea sparked in her head. "Hey, maybe I can bring Ashley over! Having someone with you really takes off the burden of watching a little kid." Yeah, it wasn't getting drunk, but it was better than nothing.

"No, I, I don't think so." Her heart sank a little. Was she really this awful to hang out with? "I'm really sorry, Nicole. I'm just, I'm swamped with homework right now, and I have a physics test to take tomorrow, it's just a bad time."

"It's fine," she deadpanned, digging her nails into her faux-cheetah fur steering wheel cover. She couldn't _stand _liars. "See you at school tomorrow, Sam." She didn't even give him a chance to respond before she hung up the phone, tossing it into the passengers seat. He was back to acting like a jerk off, and this time it couldn't be blamed on his psycho Barbie ex. She slammed her hand on the center console. Nicki was really beginning to like Sam. Maybe, just maybe, she had a tinsy winsy crush on him. But hell, so did half the girls at McKinley. He was hot. And sweet. And adorable. And funny.

"_It's Friday! Friday! Gotta get down on Friday! Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend,_" chimed from her BlackBerry, causing her to groan. She hated that song and that little bitch Rebecca Black, but it always got her attention. She grabbed her phone, silently hoping it was Sam, calling her to apologize and say he really _did _want to hang out, but no such luck. Her screen read "Puck."

"What perv?"

"That's no way to answer the phone," he scoffed playfully. "So we hanging out or what?"

"I don't know," she said, contemplating the situation. She decided that she was in serious need of some alcohol and Puck's jokes. "Yeah, I guess we are. Where you at?"

Puck told her he was at McKinley sitting in his pickup. "What kind of a skank would suck you off in that piece of shit? And at _school _nonetheless," she'd asked, recalling their previous conversation.

"_My _kind of skank. So what are we doing?"

"Wanna grab some vodka?"

"Hells yeah! We'll get drunk, and go like, mini-golfing or something."

Nicki smiled. They agreed to meet up outside a Jiffy Lube, looking pathetic until someone felt bad enough for them to buy them alcohol. This had become their tradition in Lima, Puck'd been doing for a while and Nicole had to admit it was a brilliant idea. One of the few he'd ever had.

* * *

><p>Two hours and a half a bottle of Grey Goose later, Puck and Nicole sat in the back seats of her Lexus, passing around what was left of the alcohol. Some college-age dude bought them it after Nicole had fed him some story about her parents fighting all the time, yelling and how stressed it was making her. With a few fake sobs, he'd been happy to make the purchase.<p>

"You're a natural at this," Puck had told her. "No one suspects a cute innocent girl like you to be such a good little actress."

But now there they were, staring at the stars. Even with the heat cranked up, it was still fucking cold as balls. "Jesus, Nick. You're freezing your tits off. Want my jacket?," Puck offered, shrugging off his sweatshirt.

"Thanks, Puck," she chattered, taking another swig of vodka. Puck placed the jacket around her goose-bump covered shoulders, keeping his arm around her. Nicole, barely, noticed Puck's move but decided to shrug it off. He was just trying to keep her warm.

"No problem," he said, shifting so that her back was on top of his chest.

"You're warm," she noted, nuzzling her nose into his broad abs.

He laughed, "thanks." The two didn't talk for a while, just gazed into the sky and enjoyed each other's company. It was Puck who broke the silence first, "your hair smells like vanilla."

Nicki smiled into his chest, deeply inhaling the refreshing scent of his cotton t-shirt. "You smell like Downy." Puck grinned again, placing his calloused fingers on her arm, rubbing it sensually.

"Are trying to fuck me right now?," she said light-heartedly. Puck laughed, but something about the look on her face said that she was completely serious.

"I don't know Nicole. Would you be willing?," he asked, an equally casual tone in his voice. Nicki lifted herself off of Puck's chest and turned around so she was facing him. Her blue eyes locked on his hazel the whole time, she placed her legs around his hips, straddling him. After a few seconds of just staring at each other, a deep desire in both of their eyes, Puck gently pressed his lips towards hers. Nicki complied immediately, deepening the kiss and placing her hands around Puck's head, toying with his mowhawk between her fingers. Within a few minutes of deep kissing, she had unbuckled his belt and his hand was underneath her dress, moving up and down her stomach, feeling the contorts of her muscles. Nicole broke away from the kiss, giving him a look, a look that Puck knew all too well. Grabbing a condom out of his sweatshirt pocket that Nicki had tossed off a while ago, he asked her a question, "you sure you're ready to do this?"

"Yeah," she whispered into his ear, then planting a trail of kisses across his jawbones. "I am so ready."


	3. He Said She Said

_**Thanks to Aoi Nami-chan and KilLlER**__**.. for reviewing and anyone else who favortied/alerted. This next chapter is more about Sam and his family. I'm not super happy with it, but it's a good lead in to the next chapter that I just finished. **_

**Chapter 3: "He Said She Said"**

**Sam**

Such a moron. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!," he repeated to himself, slamming his head on the motel room wall.

"Sammy! Sammy, why are you doing that?," Stacy asked him, tugging on his sleeve. "Sam!," she screeched again.

"Because, Stac, I'm an idiot," he answered blandly, tossing his crappy flip phone onto the bed. His crush had pretty much asked him out on a date, and he'd said no. Now she thought he never wanted to see her. "Ugh," he muttered to himself, flopping on the bed next to Stanley, his little brother, who was currently watching SpongeBob on the tiny TV.

"No you're not, Sammy! You're the smartest person I know. Honest," she claimed, cuddling next to Sam's leg. That made Sam grin, lifting up his sister to be next to his head.

"Thanks, Stacy," he said, planting a kiss on her cheek. "But I did do a very stupid thing."

"It's okay. I do stupid stuff all the time! Like when I ate that tub of glitter 'cause I thought it was sprinkles." Sam laughed. While it was rather funny to walk into a little girl in the bathroom, her mouth covered in a ring sparkles, it was _not _funny to watch her throw the damn things up for a week.

"At least your puke was pretty," he reminded her. Stacy beamed, showing her gapped baby-toothed smile.

"I'm sure what you did wasn't that stupid, Sam," Stanley commented, his green eyes still fixed on the TV screen.

"Yeah, right, bud," he muttered, ruffling his little brother's shaggy blonde hair. "C'mon guys. Let's get you cleaned up and dressed in your PJs, Mom and Dad are gonna be home soon." Stacy jumped off the bed while Stanley just groaned a response. Sam picked up his sister, tossing her off his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "To the bath!"

* * *

><p>"Good night," Sam whispered, pulling the pink sleeping bag up to Stacy's chin.<p>

"Night, Sammy," Stacy responded, groggily. Sam kissed her cheek again and got up to turn the light off. "Sam?"

"Yeah, darling?"

"When are we gonna move back to our real house? I don't wanna live here anymore." Sam's heart sunk to his stomach. How was he supposed to tell this sweet, innocent little girl that they didn't _have _a house anymore?

"We'll just be here for a little longer," Sam said as reassuringly as he could, although he knew the words coming out of his mouth were complete lies. "Remember what Daddy told you? This is like a vacation."

Stacy let out a deep breath, obviously not falling for Sam's bullshit. "Okay."

"Don't worry about it. Just sleep, alright munchkin?"

"I will. Love you, Sam," she said before slowly drifting off to sleep.

"I love you, too." He gently brushed the hairs off of her face before standing up and turning off the table lamp. Slowly, he walked to his pull-out cot, and laid on the bed. The darkness and quiet got him to thinking. When _were _they going to move out of this shithole? When were his mom and dad finally going to be able to find a job? And when, oh _when _would life finally start taking a turn for the better?

As he lay underneath the covers, his thoughts slowly drifted to Nicole. How hurt she sounded on the phone. He'd wished he could just tell her about his situation, but his pride wouldn't let him. He couldn't tell anyone, it was bad enough that Kurt and Quinn already knew. He really didn't need another reason for people to make fun of him, he was already 'Trouty Mouth' and 'Bleached Bieber.' He didn't want to be labeled as the poor kid and be shipped off to the bottom of the food chain for the rest of his high school career.

But part of him believed that people would be accepting. That they would have pity on him and not treat him like dirt. The more rational part of him told him that the chances of that happening we slim to none.

He really liked Nicole. Loved her, really. She deserved to know what was going on, right? Right? So maybe most of the kids would tease him, but she wouldn't. She didn't do that. Even when Santana tore down Rachel, Nicole _always_ told the Latina to back off. Surely she would do that for him. Be understanding. She _had _to be.

A knock on the door and the sounds of a lock unlocking broke Sam from his thoughts. A tired and weary looking Mr. and Mrs. Evans walked in, the room suddenly flooding with light from the hallway. "Hey, Sam. Sorry if we woke you," Mr. Evan said in a monotone while Mrs. Evans shrugged off her coat.

"Naw, I wasn't sleeping. Any luck today?," he asked hopefully. His father frowned and his mom shook her head no. "That's okay. Tomorrow, tomorrow for sure," he said, attempting to bring up his parents' spirits.

"Yeah, Sam. Tomorrow," Mrs. Evans said, her tone sweet and calming. She took of her high-heels and walked over to his cot. "Sam, we need to talk to you about something."

"Yeah?," he asked uneasily.

"Well, we know that your birthday is coming up soon." Sam frowned slightly. With all this mess with his family, he'd completely forgotten about his birthday. "And we thought that either your father or I would hopefully have a job by now but, unfortunately, we don't. I know that you said you really wanted a car as a present, but-," she broke off, not able to say the next few words.

"It's, it's just not in the cards this year, sport," his dad finished, placing his arm around a depressed Mrs. Evans. "We're sorry."

"That's okay, Dad," Sam said flatly. "I know about our money problems, and honestly, I wasn't expecting anything."

"We're so sorry, Sam. I wish we could-," his mom continued, but Sam cut her off,

"Mom, don't worry about it. It's fine." Mr. Evans looked as if he was about to say something else so Sam spoke first. "Do you mind closing the door so I can sleep? I'm really beat."

"Of course, sweetie," his mom said, walking to the door to shut it.

"Thanks for watching your little brother and sister again. You don't know how much of a help you've been to us, Sam. We're so very proud of you," Mr. Evans grinned. Sam felt a sudden burst of pride, he loved making his parents proud of him. "Good night."

"Night," Sam whispered back before pretending to go to sleep.

He must've done a pretty good job, because after a few minutes his mom began to talk as if he wasn't there. "This bad. We can't even buy our son a birthday present! What's going to happen when we run out of money, Frank?," Mrs. Evans pressed Mr. Evans.

"I don't know," Mr. Evans replied grimly. There was an uncomfortable pause. "I know this isn't an ideal situation," Mrs. Evans laughed humorlessly, "but I'm doing the best I can."

"Fine. But if I have to see one more of my children disappointed again, I swear-" Sam buried his head in his pillow, not wanting to hear his mom's threat.

"Dammit," he swore to himself.

* * *

><p>Sam went to school on Monday feeling conflicted. This morning he'd been completely and totally ready to tell Nicole about his family, but now that he was actually <em>at<em> school, the idea didn't seem nearly as appealing. He kept replaying all the scenarios in his head: she could laugh in his face, never talk to him again, or, worst of all, tell everyone. He'd be a loser forever. On the other, and least likely, hand she could be accepting. Maybe even ask him out on another date. Okay, so the date thing _probably _wouldn't happen, considering the fact that she was dating the school's biggest bad boy. But he could dream, right?

He arrived at Nicole's locker far too early for his liking, but he came to the conclusion that if he was going to tell her, he had to tell her now before he pussied out. His heart racing a million miles a minute, he attempted to take a deep breath while walking towards her locker, which she was currently shuffling books in and out of. "Hey, Nicole," Sam greeted, leaning up against the wall.

Nicole looked out from her locker for a second, seeing Sam. "Hey," she responded, turning back towards her locker.

"Listen, I just wanted to apologize for Saturday."

"There's nothing to apologize for, Sam. You don't have to say sorry for not wanting to hang out with me."

"No, it's not that I didn't want to hang out with you. I told you, I had to baby-sit Stacy and Stanley." Nicole glanced at him unsurely. "And I wanted you to come over, but I was embarrassed."

Her face contorted with confusion. "Embarrassed? Why?"

He took another deep breath and looked at the ground. "A while ago, my dad lost his job. They repossessed our house, and now my family is living in a shitty motel. I didn't want you and Ashley to come over, because I didn't want to see where we are living," he said quickly, mumbling the last few words. Cautiously, he looked up at Nicole's face, dreading what it would hold.

"Well, what the hell?"

"Huh?"

"Why couldn't you just _tell _me that, Sam?," she exasperated. "There's absolutely no need to be ashamed of that."

"Easy for you to say," he muttered and Nicole lowered her head.

"I don't know what your going through right now, I can't even imagine. But I think you could use all the support you can get."

"Thanks," Sam said, smiling. "And I really _do _want to hang out with you. Maybe we can reschedule?"

"Sam Evans, are you asking me out on a date?," Nicole asked playfully.

He coughed awkwardly. Was he? "No, I wouldn't do that. You have a boyfriend and-"

"What?"

"Boyfriend. You know, the guy that your dating? The dude who'd kick my ass if I hit on you?"

"What the-? Sam, I don't _have _a boyfriend."

His heart leapt. "Huh? You're not dating Puck?"

Nicole laughed. "Hell to the no! We're just friends. What made you think I was dating him?"

"I dunno," he admitted, embarrassed of his incorrect assumption. "Just the way you guys are always together, and Quinn told me.." he trailed off, seeing a flare of anger in the girl's eyes at Quinn's name.

"Quinn makes up shit. A lot," she stated plainly.

"Yeah, I know," he said, mostly to himself. "So how about that reschedule?," he asked hopefully.

"Sure. Can we get together, like, Thursday?"

He thought for a second before responding. "Uh huh. Do you want to go to the park or something? I can bring along the kids and you can bring Ashley."

"Awesome. Sounds great," she smiled, closing her locker.

"Great, it's a date," Sam said, but quickly backtracked, "I mean a _play _date." Nicole's smile didn't falter, as if that's what she assumed he meant.

"See you then," she said before walking off to her next class. Sam mentally slapped himself. He could be so fucking _stupid _sometimes. But honestly, the whole situation went down a lot better than he had originally thought. She'd said she would support him, and he found out she wasn't dating Puck after all. Which was amazing, more than he could've hoped for.

"Hey man," a familiar voice called from behind him. Sam turned around to see a guy, about 5'11" with muscles and mocha-colored skin waving at him as if he'd known him for years. "What's up, Sam?," he asked, offering Sam a high-five. Sam's eyebrows furrowed together. Did he know this guy? "It's me! Chris, remember?"

His big lips made a small 'oh.' This guy was on the football team, a running back if Sam remembered correctly. He returned the high-five which turned into a brief one-armed guy hug. "Listen, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Nicki. She say she wasn't dating Puckerman?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Cool! Are y'all close?" Sam shrugged. "Well do you think you could set me up?"

Sam's stomach turned. What was he supposed to say? "I dunno," he answered honestly.

"C'mon, man. Help a brother out," Chris pleaded.

"Sure, I'll try," he said before thinking, wanting to punch himself in the face. Why the _hell _had he just agreed to set up his crush with some jock douche?

"Thanks, man!," Chris exclaimed, his face lighting up. "I really owe you."

"Yeah," Sam muttered. "I gotta go," he said a bit louder.

"Okay, just remember to talk to her about me. Tell her, that, I dunno, I'm smart and funny or some shit. Whatever she wants to hear." Sam didn't say anything else before slowly trudging off to his first class. Stupid, stupid, stupid!


	4. Ur So Gay

_**Once again, I want to thank everyone who's favorited/alerted. I'm going to try to keep these updates weekly, but I may add 2 a week or fall behind. Enjoy **__**:)**_

**Chapter 4: "Ur So Gay"**

**Nicole**

"What do we know about Sam anyway?," Tina asked the table. For some reason that Nicki was _sure _was pointless, Finn and Rachel had called an 'emergency glee club meeting' which had somehow turned into a Sam-bashing fest. "I mean, what town is he from? What state? What was his old school like?" She paused dramatically. "Maybe he's a serial killer."

Nicki snorted. "Paranoid much?"

"You guys, I'm telling you, Kurt _wouldn't _cheat on Blaine," Quinn stated. For once, Nicki agreed with her. Kurt was a sweet guy, he didn't have it in him to cheat. And, Sam wasn't gay. He definitelywas _not_ gay.

"It's just like a _Rumours _album. I mean, being apart or on the road is hard for two artists. Performers have this 'love the one your with' mentality. I mean look at all of us!," Rachel exclaimed. "Look at all the different combinations we've had, Finchel, Puckleberry…"

"Tina Cohen-Chang-Chang," Tina continued.

"Artittany," Artie chimed in.

"Puckole," Puck said, winking in Nicole's direction. She rolled her eyes. She honestly couldn't say she'd be surprised if Puck started the rumor that they were dating.

"Guys, we're sitting in here squabbling over what? A rumor," Finn exasperated.

"Finn's right!," Rachel quickly agreed. "We need more information."

"Rachel, drop it," Nicki ordered, eyeing the small nosy brunette. Sam wasn't ready to talk about his financial problems, so he wasn't going to. And she would be damned if he got pressured into spilling his guts by Frankenteen and the hobbit. They really needed to mind their own business.

"I don't want to get into it, but all I'm going to say, Sam's not gay," Quinn claimed, leaving her spot at the table. Nicole's brows furrowed together. What was _she _so sure about? Did she know about Sam? Did he tell her? Nicki glanced at Quinn as she left while everyone else eyed each other awkwardly.

"What's up her ass?," Puck asked.

"Who knows? But she's right, Sam ain't gay. And even if he _was, _which he's not," Nicole explained, "he wouldn't make a move on Kurt! He knows Kurt is in a relationship with Blaine, he wouldn't screw that up. Sam's a good guy." Finn scoffed. "Excuse me, Finn. Do you have something to say?"

"You have Sam on a pedestal, Nick," Finn said. "I wouldn't put him above hitting on Kurt."

"_Why _do you hate him so much?," Nicole questioned. "He didn't do shit to you! _You're _the one that stole his girlfriend!"

"You don't know anything about that," Finn said quietly, lowering his head. She stared daggers at him for a few more seconds.

"Keep telling yourself that," she spat. Looking at Rachel, she asked, "are we done with this _stupid _meeting? I've got shit to do." Rachel nodded feebly, obviously wanting to steer clear of her wrath. "Great, I'm outta here," she grabbed her purse and headed through the doors of the Lima Bean. Behind her, she heard a chair scooting across the tile floor and she soon felt the presence of someone walking behind her.

"Ignore Finnessa," Puck said. "He's on his period, or something." Nicki simply glared at him as a response. "So, Nick, why do you keep standing up for Fish Mouth?"

"His name is _not _Fish Mouth, asswipe. Don't call him that." Puck raised an eyebrow. "And I stood up for him because he wasn't here to defend to himself."

"So?"

"I wouldn't want you guys spreading lies about me behind _my _back."

"How do you know they're lies?," Puck asked once they'd come to the door, and he held it open so Nicki could exit.

"Be_cause_," she said, leaving the coffee joint. "I just do!"

"Then why was Kurt with Sam at a motel?" Nicole gulped. How could she explain this to Puck without putting Sam's shit on blast?

"I'm sure they had a good reason," she replied, speed-walking towards her car.

"Yeah, they needed a quite place to fuck," Puck said, still following her like a shadow.

"Shut up! Dammit, Puck, you can be so fucking obnoxious sometimes." He smiled, taking it as a compliment. "Ugh, they _weren't _having sex."

"How do you know?" Nicole bit her lip, not knowing what to say. Puck's hazel eyes lit up. "What do you know, Swank? What's the dirt on Lady Lips?"

"Nothing!," she yelled, noticing that they'd arrived at her car. Taking a deep breath, she fetched her keys out of her purse and unlocked it. "Just, please, leave it alone." Puck raised his hands up in defeat, but Nicki knew the conversation was far from over.

"So, baby, you in the mood for a little suki-suki?," he asked seductively, leaning in and brushing his hand against hers.

"Puckerman. I thought we already talked about this. Saturday was a _one-time _thing. I was drunk, you were drunk, it was a mistake," she explained, pulling away from his gesture quickly.

"C'mon, are you trying to tell me you don't want a taste of Puckerone?"

"Yes. That is exactly what I'm trying to tell you," she declared, rolling her eyes and opening her door. "Goodbye, Puck," she said, getting into her car.

"Cocktease!," he claimed.

"Horndog," she muttered underneath her breath before pulling out of her parking spot.

* * *

><p>Nicole clapped politely along with the rest of the gleeks after Rachel's rendition of <em>Go Your Own Way<em>. And Nicki had to admit, she was sorta proud of Berry. This was the first time she'd seen her sing a solo and not tear up. Rachel was beaming, but of course, _Quim_ just had to ruin it.

"Don't you think it's maybe a little inappropriate that you chose to sing a love song to my guy?," she asked rhetorically. If looks could kill…

"You're such a hyprocrite!," Rachel accused her. Nicki sat up a bit straighter in her seat. She would _love _to see that little diva go all apeshit on Fake-Blondie. "You little Miss Perfect Prom Queen. You're a cheater, who cheats in cheap motels with Sam." Anger rumbled inside heri. Were they _really_ going to start on this again? Dammit. Nicole squeezed Sam's arm, reassuring him that she knew the truth.

"Nothing is going on between Sam and I!," Quinn yelled.

"I can vouch for that," Nicole added, but seemed to be unheard by the rest of the glee club.

"Enough guys," Mr. Schuester ordered, trying to keep control over the situation.

"You know, I blame Sam for all of this," Santana piped up. Nick wished that for once the ex-cheerleader could keep her big trap shut. "And Rachel too, I blame her."

"What did I do?," Rachel whined, crossing her arms over her non-existent boobs.

"I'm sure you did something," Santana reassured her.

"I'm with Santana. I mean, why hasn't Sam got anything to say about this?," Tina added.

"Guilt."

"Seriously man, what you're doing is not cool. They both have boyfriends!," Puck said.

"Like that's ever stopped you," Nicole shot back.

"Shut up!," Sam cried, getting seriously aggravated. "Look, I'm not messing around with Quinn, or Kurt, or anyone of those guys! They're just helping me."

"Oh, is that what we're calling it now?," Mercedes said disapprovingly.

"Back _off _of Sam," Nicki growled. "Sam, just ignore them," she told Sam comfortingly.

"Wait, hold on," Mr. Schuester said, trying to keep up with his students. "How are they helping you out?"

"They just are, okay? It's not any of your business-," Nicki started, but Sam cut her off.

Taking a deep breath he told them, "Kurt was bringing me some clothes and Quinn was helping me baby-sit my little brother and sister." Nicki sighed, pissed off at her fellow glee club members.

"Then why were you in that motel?," Finn pressed. Nicole was about to tell him that she was going to shove those giant hands of his up his own ass if he didn't stop talking but Sam responded before she could.

"Because that's where I live now!," he yelled. Everyone in the room became silent. "My dad lost his job a few months ago and then we lost our house so now we live in that motel, in one room." She tried to comfort Sam by rubbing his knee but he quickly pulled away, standing up from his chair. "Are you all happy? The truth's finally out," he cried before storming out.

"Wow, guys. Way to go. Didn't I _tell _you to drop it?," Nicki scoffed before following after Sam. "Sam. Sam!," she yelled, trying to chase after the angry blonde boy.

"Damn it!," he yelled, slamming his fist into the nearest locker once he'd finally slowed down.

"Screw them," Nicole said. "It's going to be okay…"

"No it's not!," he screamed back. "Don't you get it? Now everybody knows! I'm screwed, I'm so screwed."

"Sam, they were going to find out eventually-," she explained, trying to be rational.

"No they weren't. They never would have to know."

"You couldn't hide it from them forever."

"Yes I could," he stated.

Nicki took a deep breath. It was _killing _her, seeing Sam so upset and flustered. He was always just so calm, and this was a side of him she never wanted to see. "Sam, I told you, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. None of this is your fault…"

"Do you think they care? You really think that's going to stop them from harassing me about it? I can't help that my lips look like Steven Tyler's, but they still call me Trouty Mouth!"

She stopped, puzzled of how to respond. He had a point, however ridiculous and cruel it may be, it was still true. Sam slammed his hand into the locker again. "Will you quit it? Just calm down, you're going to break your knuckles," she told him.

"I don't give a shit! Maybe I'll get a cast, it'll be another nickname they can call me. Lobster claw!" Nicole looked at him pitifully, trying to think of a way to cheer him up. Or at least make him less self-destructive.

"Please, Sam, just take a deep breath," she pleaded, grabbing his free hand.

He turned towards her, the rage in his blue-green eyes slowly disappearing. "Okay, okay," he said, exhaling deeply. "I'm sorry, Nicole. I'm not usually like this…"

"You don't have to apologize. I know, I know," she assured him, taking a few steps closer to him. Before Sam could thank her, she removed her hand from his and pulled him into a embrace. She pressed her face against his chest, deeply inhaling his scent, a mixture of sweat and generic deodorant. He returned the hug, laying his head on top of hers. They squeezed each other tighter, neither one of them wanting to let go.

After a few seconds, a loud "ahem" broke their embrace. They looked at the direction of the noise to see a irked Quinn with her hands placed on her hips. "Sam!," Quinn cried once she'd realized she had gotten his attention and grabbed him into a hug. "I'm so sorry for what happened in there. Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah," Sam said, awkwardly patting Quinn on the back instead of returning her hug. After a few attempts of Sam trying to remove himself from his ex's iron grip, Quinn, thankfully, got the hint and let him free. "Thanks for asking. I was just a little upset."

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling better," she told him, eyeing Nicole evilly. Nicki smirked, happy she could make the other blonde jealous.

"Yep," Sam said, shifting his gaze from one girl to the other, watching what they would do next. The girls just glared at each other for a good minute, as if the first one to breaking the stare would lose.

"I guess I'd better go back to Finn," Quinn announced, turning towards Sam, making Nicole grin victoriously.

"Okay," Sam said, not looking sad or even phased at all at the mention of her boyfriend. Quinn glanced at Nicki again before turning on her heels, marching off to the choir room.

"Good riddance," Nicki muttered.

"Huh?," Sam asked.

"Nothing," she smiled. "Do you want to go, grab a bite to eat or something? Just get away from the school environment for a while? My treat."

"You sure?"

"Positive. We'd better hurry though. The drive-thru line at Mickey Dee's is _crazy _around this time."

Sam nodded before following Nicole out the McKinley High School doors.


	5. Prom Night

_**A big hug to everyone that favorited and/or reviewed (Killer Bunnies **__**and Oh Leah Darling, you guys rock hard**_.) _**I would totally give each and everyone of you a sloppy kiss on the cheek, except I'm talking to you over a computer, and that would just be really creepy. Sorry this chapter's getting up a later, Fanficiton was being frustrating and decided not to work :p. Time for me to wrap this thing up, so I hope you enjoy!**_

**Chapter 5: "Prom Night" **

**Sam**

Sam hesitantly walked into the gymnasium with Rachel, Mercedes and Jesse. He was glad to be here, with more people, and not forced to be around Jesse. That guy never stopped talking about himself. And Rachel just fawned at everything he said. Bleh. Jesse had Rachel twisted around his manicured finger. It was sad, really, to see such a powerful and smart girl act so stupidly. Whatever. It wasn't his problem, though it seemed to piss off Finn. But they had finally arrived at prom, and he was ready to have fun. Well, as much fun as you could have at your adult-supervised, alcohol -free junior prom.

"Sam," Mercedes said, hitting him lightly in the arm. "Where do you wanna sit?"

"Uh," he responded, "I don't really care. Wherever you want is fine.." Mercedes nodded and walked towards the nearest table. He had to admit, she did look really pretty tonight. He was proud to have her on his arm.

"Hey, man," Puck greeted him. "Glad you're here. You almost ready to go on?"

"Already?," he asked. He was hoping to see Nicole before he went on. She'd ended up going with Chris after a recommendation from Sam. He wanted to make sure she was having fun and Chris was keeping his hands to himself.

"Yeah. So, you ready?," Sam sighed. He guessed he could see Nicole after he sang. He ran over to where Mercedes, Rachel and Jesse resided, told them where he was going and went up to accompany Puck onstage.

"_Oooh, yeah, yeah,_" Artie began humming once the band started playing the beat.

"_7 a.m.,_" Puck had quickly followed, "_waking up in the morning, gotta be fresh gotta go downstairs! Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal._" After Puck sang a few more lines, Artie echoing him, Puck gave Sam his cue to sing, "_everybody's rushing, gotta get down to the bus stop. Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends._"

"_Sitting in the front seat,_" Sam joined in. "_Sitting in the back seat, gotta make my mind up. Which seat can I take?_" He smiled, happy with Puck's song choice and the fact that the mow hawked boy had asked him to sing it with him. _Friday _was hilarious in its ridiculousness. He couldn't help but wonder if Rebecca Black was being serious when she wrote it, or if she was trying to be funny. As they continued to sing, their classmates got crazier and crazier. Some of the girls looked like they wanted to jump him. It was _awesome_. Once Artie had rapped, the crowd really started flipping out at the boy's skills. Sam swore Artie must've been black in a past life.

"_Partin' partin', yeah!_," they sang. "_Fun, fun, fun, fun. Lookin' forward to the weekend._" They finished and the crowd went wild, yelling hoots and hollers. Sam couldn't stop smiling, he was really enjoying all this attention. Bowing, he gave Artie and Puck a high-five before taking off his guitar and exiting the stage.

"Sam!," he heard a girl cry and before he could look up to see who the voice belonged to, he was being squeezed by Nicole. He happily returned the hug, burying his face in her curly hair. "You did such a great job." She stepped back to let him regain his breath, but he found it being taken away again once he saw her full outfit. She looked _amazing._ The sleeveless purple dress flaunted her small curves and the knee cut off showed her long lean legs. Her dirty blonde hair hung in curls off her shoulders and, wow. Her boobs, oh god, her boobs.

"W-wow, Nicole," he sputtered, attempting to gain back his speech. "You look, you look gorgeous."

Her full glossed lips turned into a smile. "Thank you, Sam." She stepped towards him. "You look pretty hot yourself, stud. I love your bolo-tie," she commented messing with the collar of his jacket. "Keepin' it country." Sam beamed.

"Damn, baby," Puck greeted her. "Way to leave something to the imagination." He waggled an eye bow seductively.

"If that's your way of telling me I look beautiful, thank you."

"Where's the lucky guy?," Puck asked, scanning the room.

"What lucky guy?

"You're date? Where'd he go?"

"Oh," Nicole frowned, as if she was just remembering that she had a date. "I think he's getting some punch. I told him I wanted to congratulate you guys." Her smile returned as she turned back to Sam. "I'd better go find him, but I'll see you later."

"Save me a dance?," Sam asked shyly. Normally he wouldn't have been so forward, but he couldn't help it. She look _epic _in that dress.

"Of course," she smiled before turning on her heels to locate where Chris had gone.

"What's up with you, Evans?," Puck questioned Sam.

"Huh?"

"You keep smiling, it's creeping me out dude," Puck said, shuddering. Sam's smile faded, he hadn't even noticed that he was still grinning. "You look like someone just told you that you won an all-expense paid trip to that Avatar world."

"Pandora," Sam corrected him.

"Whatever." Puck glanced at him once more unsurely before shrugging and leaving Sam behind.

"So when are you going to tell her?," Artie asked from behind him. He jumped, unaware that Artie had even been there. Artie had a way of doing that…

"Tell who what?"

"Nicole that you like her," he clarified, wheeling in front of Sam.

"What?," Sam said flustered, a blush creeping up on his face. Was it that obvious? "I don't like Nicole. I mean as a friend, sure but…."

"Okay. Whatever you say, Sam." Artie smiled at him before rolling away.

* * *

><p>"Hey, look. Nicole's going up there," Mercedes informed Sam.<p>

"Really?," Sam asked, standing and craning his neck in attempt to see the girl on stage. "I didn't know she was singing tonight."

"Neither did I."

Sam gazed at Nicole as she took center-stage, cautiously gripping the microphone stand. She nodded to the band, and a slow flowy piano tune began to play. "_Waking up I see that everything is okay. The first time in my life and now it's so great,_" she sang, her tone blending perfectly with the piano. As she continued to sing, Sam found himself captivated by the girl. Her voice was entrancing, almost addictive. It wasn't soulful, like Mercedes or Rachel's, and it wasn't sweet, like Tina or Quinn's, but it was hauntingly beautiful. Her voice was unlike he'd ever heard, and his mind slowly drifted back to the time he got the pleasure of listening to her sing.

_Sam walked into the choir room, scolding himself for leaving his jacket behind. Again. He was so forgetful these days, and it didn't help that Quinn nagged him every time he forgot to offer to carry her books. It wasn't that big of a deal, was it? _

_As he approached the room, he heard singing. Weird, he thought that everyone would be long gone by now. Cautiously taking a few more steps, he peered his head into the door, not wanting to disturb the voice. He saw a blond girl sitting on the piano bench, her back turned towards him. _

"Well sometimes I go out, by myself, and I look across the water,_" she sang. He remembered the lyrics, they were from the song that Santana was going to sing at Sectionals, _Valerie. _But, the girl didn't sing it the same way Santana did, her version was much more peaceful and melodic than the Latina's. "_And I think of all the things, what you're doin', and in my head I paint a picture! Cause since I've come on home, well my body's been a mess. And I've missed your ginger hair, and the way you like to dress._" The more Sam listened to the girl, the more curious he got. Who did this voice belong to? Was it someone in glee, or someone else entirely? He tip-toed closer to the piano, wanting to get a closer look but not wanting the girl to quit singing because he was here. "_Oh why don't you come on over, Valerie?,_" she belted out. Sam sensed that the girl was close to being over, so he tried to turn around and make a speedy getaway. Of course, he slipped on a stray piece of sheet music. _

"Val-_" she abruptly stopped once she'd heard Sam tumble to the floor. She turned around quickly, and Sam saw that it was Nicole. "Sam!," she yelled, covering her mouth. "What the, what are you doing here? Did you hear that?," she asked, her voice quiet. Her cheeks reddened, and she quickly gathered her books from on top of the piano. _

_Sam felt bad for making Nicole embarrassed, and he suddenly wondered what she had to be ashamed of. Her voice was beautiful, why hadn't she sung to the club before? "Wait," Sam called out to her as she started out the door. She slowly turned around. "That was, beautiful, Nicole," he told her truthfully. _

_Her blush deepened. "You're just saying that. Really, it's not-"_

"_Yes it is," Sam repeated. "Honestly? You should've gotten that solo. If you would just let Mr. Schue hear you, I'm sure he'd give it to you in a heartbeat." _

"_No, I can't, I don't wanna," she sputtered before shaking her head. "I've got to go, Sam. I'll see you later." She darted out the door before Sam could say anything else. _

He'd never been so captivated by a voice. He was feeling that enchantment again, watching Nicole sing now. It was the second time tonight that Sam felt his breath being taken away from him by her. And he didn't really mind. "_Don't you let it pass you by,_" she sang, ending the song. Everyone that had been dancing to the tune stopped and giving the girl her deserved applause.

"Damn," Mercedes commented next to him. "I didn't know she could sing like that!" Sam smiled.

"She's amazing, isn't she?," he asked blissfully before he could catch himself. Mercedes gave him an uneasy look and he instantly flushed red. "I'm," he stuttered. "I'm gonna go tell her that she was awesome." She nodded and Sam made a mad dash to the stage. He caught Nicole just as she was getting off the stage.

Nicole looked uneasy until her eyes laid upon Sam's. "What did you think?," she asked hesitantly.

"Holy hell, Nicole," he said, shaking his head. "That was fucking amazing. I really don't get why you don't sing in front of everybody."

She shrugged. "I used to think I was a pretty okay singer, until I heard all you guys. Compared to you guys, I suck." Sam shook his head furiously.

"Please," Sam scoffed. "You were fantastic."

Nicole smiled so big it look like her face was going to break in half. "Thank you, Sam," she said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. Tingles ran all throughout his body. She loosened her grip but continued to hold his hand. Nicole raised her blue eyes until they met his blue-green ones. They stayed there for a minute, seeming to be searching for something.

Subconsciously, Sam placed his hand behind her neck, stroking her skin softly and smiled. Her full red lips parted slightly and she stood on her tip-toes, attempting to bring herself closer to Sam's mouth. Not missing a beat, the two slowly brought their mouths closer to each other's until they collided. Sam swore he saw fireworks go off.

Nicole brought her hands up to Sam's blonde hair, twisting pieces of it in her fingers. He pressed his lips against hers harder, and Nicole responded with digging her fingers from her free hand into his arm. After a few more seconds, she broke away, her lips looking a tad more red.

"Wow," they breathed, almost at the same time.

"I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to do that," Nicole smiled.

"Really?," Sam responded, almost surprised.

"Yeah," Nicole said feebly. "Want me to tell you the truth?" Sam nodded furiously. "I only came to prom tonight," she admitted, stroking his cheek, "is because I knew you were going to be here. I didn't want to go with Chris, I wanted to go with you." Sam's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "But you didn't ask me, and then Mercedes and Berry got to you before I could and…"

"So if I would've asked you, you would've said yes?," Sam asked, confused.

"Uh huh."

"Well what the hell? I could've been having fun with you at this shindig?," Sam exclaimed. Nicole giggled. "I guess it's not too late. You wanna go dance?"

She smiled. "I would love to."

_**Did you **_**like **_**it? **_

_**Songs from this chapter are:**_

"_**Innocence"- by Avril Lavigne and of course "Valerie"- by Amy Winehouse**_


	6. You Belong With Me

_**A big hug to everyone that favorited and/or reviewed (Killer Bunnies **__**and Oh Leah Darling, you guys rock hard**_.) _**I would totally give each and everyone of you a sloppy kiss on the cheek, except I'm talking to you over a computer, and that would just be really creepy. Sorry this chapter's getting up a later, Fanficiton was being frustrating and decided not to work :p. Time for me to wrap this thing up, so I hope you enjoy!**_

**Chapter 5: "Prom Night" **

**Sam**

Sam hesitantly walked into the gymnasium with Rachel, Mercedes and Jesse. He was glad to be here, with more people, and not forced to be around Jesse. That guy never stopped talking about himself. And Rachel just fawned at everything he said. Bleh. Jesse had Rachel twisted around his manicured finger. It was sad, really, to see such a powerful and smart girl act so stupidly. Whatever. It wasn't his problem, though it seemed to piss off Finn. But they had finally arrived at prom, and he was ready to have fun. Well, as much fun as you could have at your adult-supervised, alcohol -free junior prom.

"Sam," Mercedes said, hitting him lightly in the arm. "Where do you wanna sit?"

"Uh," he responded, "I don't really care. Wherever you want is fine.." Mercedes nodded and walked towards the nearest table. He had to admit, she did look really pretty tonight. He was proud to have her on his arm.

"Hey, man," Puck greeted him. "Glad you're here. You almost ready to go on?"

"Already?," he asked. He was hoping to see Nicole before he went on. She'd ended up going with Chris after a recommendation from Sam. He wanted to make sure she was having fun and Chris was keeping his hands to himself.

"Yeah. So, you ready?," Sam sighed. He guessed he could see Nicole after he sang. He ran over to where Mercedes, Rachel and Jesse resided, told them where he was going and went up to accompany Puck onstage.

"_Oooh, yeah, yeah,_" Artie began humming once the band started playing the beat.

"_7 a.m.,_" Puck had quickly followed, "_waking up in the morning, gotta be fresh gotta go downstairs! Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal._" After Puck sang a few more lines, Artie echoing him, Puck gave Sam his cue to sing, "_everybody's rushing, gotta get down to the bus stop. Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends._"

"_Sitting in the front seat,_" Sam joined in. "_Sitting in the back seat, gotta make my mind up. Which seat can I take?_" He smiled, happy with Puck's song choice and the fact that the mow hawked boy had asked him to sing it with him. _Friday _was hilarious in its ridiculousness. He couldn't help but wonder if Rebecca Black was being serious when she wrote it, or if she was trying to be funny. As they continued to sing, their classmates got crazier and crazier. Some of the girls looked like they wanted to jump him. It was _awesome_. Once Artie had rapped, the crowd really started flipping out at the boy's skills. Sam swore Artie must've been black in a past life.

"_Partin' partin', yeah!_," they sang. "_Fun, fun, fun, fun. Lookin' forward to the weekend._" They finished and the crowd went wild, yelling hoots and hollers. Sam couldn't stop smiling, he was really enjoying all this attention. Bowing, he gave Artie and Puck a high-five before taking off his guitar and exiting the stage.

"Sam!," he heard a girl cry and before he could look up to see who the voice belonged to, he was being squeezed by Nicole. He happily returned the hug, burying his face in her curly hair. "You did such a great job." She stepped back to let him regain his breath, but he found it being taken away again once he saw her full outfit. She looked _amazing._ The sleeveless purple dress flaunted her small curves and the knee cut off showed her long lean legs. Her dirty blonde hair hung in curls off her shoulders and, wow. Her boobs, oh god, her boobs.

"W-wow, Nicole," he sputtered, attempting to gain back his speech. "You look, you look gorgeous."

Her full glossed lips turned into a smile. "Thank you, Sam." She stepped towards him. "You look pretty hot yourself, stud. I love your bolo-tie," she commented messing with the collar of his jacket. "Keepin' it country." Sam beamed.

"Damn, baby," Puck greeted her. "Way to leave something to the imagination." He waggled an eye bow seductively.

"If that's your way of telling me I look beautiful, thank you."

"Where's the lucky guy?," Puck asked, scanning the room.

"What lucky guy?

"You're date? Where'd he go?"

"Oh," Nicole frowned, as if she was just remembering that she had a date. "I think he's getting some punch. I told him I wanted to congratulate you guys." Her smile returned as she turned back to Sam. "I'd better go find him, but I'll see you later."

"Save me a dance?," Sam asked shyly. Normally he wouldn't have been so forward, but he couldn't help it. She look _epic _in that dress.

"Of course," she smiled before turning on her heels to locate where Chris had gone.

"What's up with you, Evans?," Puck questioned Sam.

"Huh?"

"You keep smiling, it's creeping me out dude," Puck said, shuddering. Sam's smile faded, he hadn't even noticed that he was still grinning. "You look like someone just told you that you won an all-expense paid trip to that Avatar world."

"Pandora," Sam corrected him.

"Whatever." Puck glanced at him once more unsurely before shrugging and leaving Sam behind.

"So when are you going to tell her?," Artie asked from behind him. He jumped, unaware that Artie had even been there. Artie had a way of doing that…

"Tell who what?"

"Nicole that you like her," he clarified, wheeling in front of Sam.

"What?," Sam said flustered, a blush creeping up on his face. Was it that obvious? "I don't like Nicole. I mean as a friend, sure but…."

"Okay. Whatever you say, Sam." Artie smiled at him before rolling away.

* * *

><p>"Hey, look. Nicole's going up there," Mercedes informed Sam.<p>

"Really?," Sam asked, standing and craning his neck in attempt to see the girl on stage. "I didn't know she was singing tonight."

"Neither did I."

Sam gazed at Nicole as she took center-stage, cautiously gripping the microphone stand. She nodded to the band, and a slow flowy piano tune began to play. "_Waking up I see that everything is okay. The first time in my life and now it's so great,_" she sang, her tone blending perfectly with the piano. As she continued to sing, Sam found himself captivated by the girl. Her voice was entrancing, almost addictive. It wasn't soulful, like Mercedes or Rachel's, and it wasn't sweet, like Tina or Quinn's, but it was hauntingly beautiful. Her voice was unlike he'd ever heard, and his mind slowly drifted back to the time he got the pleasure of listening to her sing.

_Sam walked into the choir room, scolding himself for leaving his jacket behind. Again. He was so forgetful these days, and it didn't help that Quinn nagged him every time he forgot to offer to carry her books. It wasn't that big of a deal, was it? _

_As he approached the room, he heard singing. Weird, he thought that everyone would be long gone by now. Cautiously taking a few more steps, he peered his head into the door, not wanting to disturb the voice. He saw a blond girl sitting on the piano bench, her back turned towards him. _

"Well sometimes I go out, by myself, and I look across the water,_" she sang. He remembered the lyrics, they were from the song that Santana was going to sing at Sectionals, _Valerie. _But, the girl didn't sing it the same way Santana did, her version was much more peaceful and melodic than the Latina's. "_And I think of all the things, what you're doin', and in my head I paint a picture! Cause since I've come on home, well my body's been a mess. And I've missed your ginger hair, and the way you like to dress._" The more Sam listened to the girl, the more curious he got. Who did this voice belong to? Was it someone in glee, or someone else entirely? He tip-toed closer to the piano, wanting to get a closer look but not wanting the girl to quit singing because he was here. "_Oh why don't you come on over, Valerie?,_" she belted out. Sam sensed that the girl was close to being over, so he tried to turn around and make a speedy getaway. Of course, he slipped on a stray piece of sheet music. _

"Val-_" she abruptly stopped once she'd heard Sam tumble to the floor. She turned around quickly, and Sam saw that it was Nicole. "Sam!," she yelled, covering her mouth. "What the, what are you doing here? Did you hear that?," she asked, her voice quiet. Her cheeks reddened, and she quickly gathered her books from on top of the piano. _

_Sam felt bad for making Nicole embarrassed, and he suddenly wondered what she had to be ashamed of. Her voice was beautiful, why hadn't she sung to the club before? "Wait," Sam called out to her as she started out the door. She slowly turned around. "That was, beautiful, Nicole," he told her truthfully. _

_Her blush deepened. "You're just saying that. Really, it's not-"_

"_Yes it is," Sam repeated. "Honestly? You should've gotten that solo. If you would just let Mr. Schue hear you, I'm sure he'd give it to you in a heartbeat." _

"_No, I can't, I don't wanna," she sputtered before shaking her head. "I've got to go, Sam. I'll see you later." She darted out the door before Sam could say anything else. _

He'd never been so captivated by a voice. He was feeling that enchantment again, watching Nicole sing now. It was the second time tonight that Sam felt his breath being taken away from him by her. And he didn't really mind. "_Don't you let it pass you by,_" she sang, ending the song. Everyone that had been dancing to the tune stopped and giving the girl her deserved applause.

"Damn," Mercedes commented next to him. "I didn't know she could sing like that!" Sam smiled.

"She's amazing, isn't she?," he asked blissfully before he could catch himself. Mercedes gave him an uneasy look and he instantly flushed red. "I'm," he stuttered. "I'm gonna go tell her that she was awesome." She nodded and Sam made a mad dash to the stage. He caught Nicole just as she was getting off the stage.

Nicole looked uneasy until her eyes laid upon Sam's. "What did you think?," she asked hesitantly.

"Holy hell, Nicole," he said, shaking his head. "That was fucking amazing. I really don't get why you don't sing in front of everybody."

She shrugged. "I used to think I was a pretty okay singer, until I heard all you guys. Compared to you guys, I suck." Sam shook his head furiously.

"Please," Sam scoffed. "You were fantastic."

Nicole smiled so big it look like her face was going to break in half. "Thank you, Sam," she said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. Tingles ran all throughout his body. She loosened her grip but continued to hold his hand. Nicole raised her blue eyes until they met his blue-green ones. They stayed there for a minute, seeming to be searching for something.

Subconsciously, Sam placed his hand behind her neck, stroking her skin softly and smiled. Her full red lips parted slightly and she stood on her tip-toes, attempting to bring herself closer to Sam's mouth. Not missing a beat, the two slowly brought their mouths closer to each other's until they collided. Sam swore he saw fireworks go off.

Nicole brought her hands up to Sam's blonde hair, twisting pieces of it in her fingers. He pressed his lips against hers harder, and Nicole responded with digging her fingers from her free hand into his arm. After a few more seconds, she broke away, her lips looking a tad more red.

"Wow," they breathed, almost at the same time.

"I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to do that," Nicole smiled.

"Really?," Sam responded, almost surprised.

"Yeah," Nicole said feebly. "Want me to tell you the truth?" Sam nodded furiously. "I only came to prom tonight," she admitted, stroking his cheek, "is because I knew you were going to be here. I didn't want to go with Chris, I wanted to go with you." Sam's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "But you didn't ask me, and then Mercedes and Berry got to you before I could and…"

"So if I would've asked you, you would've said yes?," Sam asked, confused.

"Uh huh."

"Well what the hell? I could've been having fun with you at this shindig?," Sam exclaimed. Nicole giggled. "I guess it's not too late. You wanna go dance?"

She smiled. "I would love to."

_**Did you **_**like **_**it? **_

_**Songs from this chapter are:**_

"_**Innocence"- by Avril Lavigne and of course "Valerie"- by Amy Winehouse**_


	7. Like a Virgin

_**I lied. Just a little bit. I said I wasn't going to be posting for a while, but I got SUPER excited and I had to. So sue me! Thanks to Oh Leah Darling, bleachXonpieceXfangurlX1025, and Extreme Liz for reviewing and anyone else who favortied/alerted blah blah blah. Just by the way, I'm really having fun with naming these chapters ;) **_

**Chapter 7: "Like a Virgin"**

**Nicole**

Nicole stared at herself unhappily in the bathroom mirror. She combed her long slender fingers through her straightened blonde hair rapidly, attempting to de-frizz it. "Ugh," she growled, slamming her fist on the tile counter when it didn't work. Grabbing her tube of mascara, she heavily applied it to her already long lashes. She put on another coat of ruby-red lip stain and dabbed more sparkles on her freckled tanned cheeks. When she put the sparkles down, she noticed her hand was shaking. Fuck, she was so nervous. She had to pick Sam up for their date in, like, 10 _freaking_ minutes. She wasn't even close to being ready! She looked like a hot mess. And her heart was beating 100 miles a minute.

She lifted her arms up. Fuck, she was sweating too. She growled, then kneeled on the ground, searching in her cabinets for maxi-pads. Yes, she was going to put them in her armpits. Get the fuck over it. After placing the pads strategically on her cardigan, she put it back on and made sure they didn't show. Dammit, _nothing _was worse than pit stains. Nothing.

Checking the clock on her phone, she saw that it was 6:10. Shit! Fucking- she had to go. Like, now. Blowing out a puff of air, she grabbed her black Betsy Johnson purse and practically ran out of her bathroom. While sprinting out, she saw Ashley sitting on the steps, playing with her dolls. She grabbed her by the arm, getting the younger girl's attention. "Ash! How do I look?" she quickly asked her younger sister, displaying her dark blue skinny jeans, black pumps, cream and gray cardigan with a matching cream tank underneath.

"You look like a movie star!" the girl exclaimed excitedly.

"Aw," Nicki cooed, giving her sister a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, baby. You look like a princess, as always. I'm gonna go, be good, okay?"

"Where are you going?" the girl asked distractedly, putting her attention back on the doll.

"On a date," she stated proudly.

"A date?"

"Yes, a date, honey," she said tiredly, opening the door. "I love you, bye."

"Hey, hey, hey!" her step-mom shouted, walking towards Nicki. "Now where the hell do you think you're going?" She crossed her arms over her thick plastic chest.

"Out," she told her nonchalantly, stepping out the door. "I do have a life. With friends."

She glared, obviously not thinking her joke was funny. "Out to where?" she pressed, eyeing her suspiciously.

"None of your GD business," she countered, raising her thin brown eyebrows.

"She's going on a date!" Ashley piped up proudly. Dammit….

"A date?" Lindsay giggled evilly.

"Yes, a freaking date!" Nicki yelled, getting extremely frustrated. "Is that really _so _hard to understand? Am I really _that_ disgusting that no one would ever want to date me?"

"Kinda. I mean, you're lips are far too big for your face. Your hair is pathetic, so limp and lifeless, yet it somehow manages to be ridiculously frizzy. Further more, you're such a cliché, with your whole 'rebel without a cause' and I don't think anyone could ever find your extremely abrasive attitude attractive. It must be a pity date."

Nicki clenched her jaw. Ashley being in her presence, she held her tongue and simply shot her wicked step-mom a deadly glare. "Goodbye, Lindsay."

"You can't just leave! I need to know where you're going and when you'll be back."

"As I said, none of your business. Now, goodbye." Before Lindsay could saying anything else, she slammed the door, barley managing to constrain herself from flipping the older women off. She checked her phone again, 6:16. Shit, _now _she was _really_ going to be fucking late. She ran to her car door and jumped into the front seat, turning her key in the ignition. Fucking Lindsay…

* * *

><p>"Right this way," the older waitress said, guiding Sam- who was looking extremely smexy in a pair of light washed jeans and a blue and red plaid flannel shirt- and Nicki to a table in the far corner of BreadStix. Once they'd gotten to the table, Sam nodded thank you and pulled out a seat for Nicki.<p>

"Thanks," Nicki smiled, taking a seat.

"No problem," Sam said, sitting in the chair across from her. "So…" he started once they'd sat down.

"So?"

"How's life?" he asked jokingly, making conversation.

Nicki laughed. "Life? Life is great. How's yours?"

"It's been pretty freaking spectacular. I met this really amazing girl."

"Really?" Nicki smirked. "Do tell." She leaned in closer with fake interest.

"I really like her. And after weeks of flirting, I finally got her to go out with me."

Nicki snorted, "_weeks of flirting_?"

"Yes, missy, weeks of flirting. You just didn't know it, cause I'm just not good at flirting." He reached across the table, slyly interlacing their fingers. She blushed slightly.

"I'd say your pretty good at flirting," she said seductively, biting her lower lip.

It was Sam's turn to blush, his cheeks turning a rosy pink. "Wow, girl. You really know how to get a guy's heart pumping."

"That _is _my specialty," she giggled, squeezing his fingers.

"Can I get you two lovebirds something to drink?" a waitress interrupted.

"We would love that," Sam smiled. "May I please have a water?"

"Of course you may. And you, ma'am?"

"I'll have the same, please," Nicki told her, still gazing lovingly at Sam.

"Okay, I'll bring that right out for you." She smiled at the two teenagers again before leaving to get their drinks.

The two continued to stare at each other a little while longer, not phased by the movements around them. It was like they were in their own world.

After a while, Sam leaned in and whispered heatedly, "I really wanna kiss you right now."

"I really _want _you to kiss me right now," she murmured into his ear, brushing her lips across his cheek. She saw Sam look down at the table and groan pleasurably before looking back at Nicki, a dark intensity burning in his eyes. Slowly, he pressed his lips against hers. Nicki smiled against his lips, bringing her hand up to twirl a piece of his blonde hair in between her fingers. Nicki's tongue slid against his lips, and their mouths melded together. She roamed his mouth, tasting the sweet sensation that was Sam. Within a few seconds, they broke apart, both of their lips a bit more red.

"You're, like, a _really _good kisser," Sam told her.

She smirked. "You're not too shabby yourself. Santana's right, those lips really are fun to suck on."

His full lips turned up into a smile. "Funny…"

Nicki grabbed his hands again, running her fingernail up and down his palm. "Can I tell you something?" He nodded. "And you promise not to laugh?" He nodded again. "Pinky promise?" she asked, holding out her pinky for him to grab.

He laughed, "I _pinky_ promise," and interlaced their pinkies.

She licked her lips, "this, this is my first real date." Sam's huge mouth dropped open.

"What?"

"This is my first real date," she repeated, slightly embarrassed. "I mean, I've been asked out before and been to dances and I've had boyfriends, but I've never been taken out on a date."

"That is absolutely insane," he breathed. "A gorgeous girl like you? Never on a date?" She shrugged. "Well, I really hope that this is a good first date."

"The best."

Sam paused for a second, looking like he was intently thinking something over. "Can I tell _you _something?"

"Of course."

"Do you promise not to laugh?" She nodded. "Or tell anyone?"

"A secret?" she exclaimed. "This must be serious."

"It is. You promise?" She nodded excitedly. "I, Nicki," he said, stumbling on his words. "I'm a virgin."

She frowned. "Say what now?"

"I'm a, a virgin. As in, I've never had sex…"

"I know what a virgin is, Sam. I just, I can't believe it."

"Why not?"

"I mean, you dated Slutana. Sex with her is kind of inevitable."

He shrugged, "I want my first time to be with someone special. Someone I really love." Nicki bit her lip again. "I bet you think that's really dorky," Sam said shyly, glancing at the ground.

Nicki smiled, tilting Sam's chin up, "I think that's adorable. And really sweet. And extremely admirable. Not many guys have the strength to do that."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she told him, rubbing their hands together again. "And someday, if you'll let me, it would be my pleasure to show you the joys of sex."

Sam grinned from ear to ear. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

><p>Sam and Nicki walked hand-in-hand to Sam's motel room, stopping in front of the number eight door.<p>

"Thanks again for dinner," Sam said.

"No problem. Thanks for letting me have a really good first date," she responded, brushing a stray strand of blonde hair out of his face.

"It was an honor," he smiled, leaning, pressing his lips against hers. Their kiss only lasted a few seconds before a girl came bursting out the door and latched herself onto Sam's legs.

"Sammy!" the girl cried.

"Hey, Stac," Sam said, faking a happy voice. He mouthed _sorry _to Nicki but she just smiled and shrugged.

"Hello Stacy," Nicki greeted, kneeling down to give the girl a high-five. Stacy quickly returned the gesture, smacking Nicki's hand and afterwards wrapping her arms around the older girl, hugging her.

"Hi, Nicole! Did you have fun with Sammy?"

Nicki nodded, giving Sam a sly smile. "Lots of fun."

Sam returned the smile, grabbing Stacy's hand. "C'mon, munchkin. Go inside, it's cold."

A women appeared at the door alongside Stacy, and Nicki recognized her as Mrs. Evans. "Hi, Nicole," Mrs. Evans greeted, giving Nicki a heart-warming smile, "how are you?"

"I'm great, Mrs. Evans," Nicki said, flashing an equally bright smile. "How are you this fine evening?"

"I am doing well." Her eyes darted between Nicki and her son. After Sam gave a pleading glance, Mrs. Evans grabbed Stacy's hand. "Let's go get ready for bed, Stacy and leave Sam alone with his girlfriend." Sam groaned unpleasantly and Nicki smiled. "Goodbye, Nicole." Nicki waved her goodbye before Mrs. Evans took her daughter inside and closed the door.

"Wow, sorry about that," Sam apologized, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Don't worry, baby. I love your family," Nicki assured him, wrapping her arms around his waist, leaning against his chiseled chest.

Sam smiled and kissed the top of her head. "We're at the _baby_ stage now?" he asked jokingly.

"Hell yeah, baby," Nicki smiled, planting a soft kiss on Sam's lips. "I'd better go." He placed his hands around her waist, pulling her closer and kissing her more deeply.

"Don't go," he pleaded, breaking away briefly before pressing against her again.

"I wish I could stay here, kissing you forever. But I really gotta go." She managed to pull herself away from Sam. "I'll see you soon."

"Promise?" Sam asked, sticking his lower lip out in a pout.

Nicki laughed, "I promise. Bye." She kissed Sam's cheek before retreating to her car. She waited until she was safely inside her Lexus and pulling away before she pinched her wrist, sure that she was dreaming. "Ouch," she muttered, rubbing the now red spot. Yep, this was real. But, somehow, so unreal at the same time.

* * *

><p>Nicki had just finished taking off all her make-up and was in her sweats when her phone rang. She groaned, hastily walking over to her phone and answering it.<p>

"Hello?" she answered exhaustedly.

"Hey, Nick," Puck's voice greeted through the other line.

"Puck?" she yawned. Frowning, she checked the clock on her BlackBerry. "It's 11:45, douche. What the fuck do you want? I'm tired."

"You had your date tonight, right? With Evans?" he slurred.

"Yes, and your point would be…?" she asked impatiently. He was wasting her precious sleeping time. And she was fucking cranky when she didn't get enough sleep.

"How'd it go?"

"Why do you care?" He burped as a response and then chuckled. "For your information, Puckerman, it was amazing. Tons of fun." He snorted. "What the fuck is your problem? What the _hell _do you have against Sam?"

"He's, he's a jackass," he drunkenly stumbled. "He doesn't deserve you." Anger began to rise inside her, who the _fuck _was he to judge Sam? Even if he was fucking hammered, that shit still wasn't cool.

"You don't know shit, Puck." Before Puck could respond, she cut him off, "goodbye Puck. This was an incredible waste of fucking time."

"Wait!" Puck yelled.

"What?" she growled.

He hiccupped. "Do you like him?"

"How many fucking times do I have to tell you? Yes, Puck. I do truly, honestly like him. Why is that so hard for you to understand?"

"Because. I told you, he don't deserve you. You'd be so much better off with someone else."

"Who, Puck?" she asked, frustrated. "Who would be so much god damn better for me?"

"Me," Puck stated firmly. Her jaw dropped.

"What?"

"Me! Me, me, me! I'm the best dude for you. Not fucking Evans."

"Why do you think that?" she asked hesitantly, not really knowing what to think.

"Because, we click. We get along," he slurred. "We're both two hot ass mother fuckers. You gotta admit, Nick, I'm pretty easy on the eyes."

Nicki scoffed disgustedly, sure that this was just a drunken ramble. One that he surely wouldn't remember in the morning. "You can't just be with someone because you're both hot."

"Why not?" he yelled.

"Dammit, Puckerman. You are really pissing me the fuck off. Just, just," she exasperated, pressing her palm to her forehead, "just go to bed. Before you hurt yourself."

"No!" he declared. "I don't wanna!" Geez, he was such a fucking little kid.

"Okay, Puck. You do whatever the hell you want. Just don't come crying to me when you get hurt." Right as Puck was about to make a snide remark, or at least one he _thought_ was snide, she angrily hit the END button.

Leave it to Noah Puckerman to ruin her fucking mood.


	8. New York

_**I love you guys. I really do. So sorry to Saya for not acknowledging you last chapter! My bad. Also thanks to Extreme Liz and Oh Leah Darling for reviewing, and anyone else you favorited or alerted. This takes place during the Nationals episode, and I jump around from scene to scene. Enjoy ;)**_

**Chapter 8: "New York"**

**Sammy**

"A year and a half ago, the New Directions were nothin' but a group of six misfits stumbling their way through a horrific rendition of _Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat,_" Kurt exclaimed, gazing lovingly at the New York scenery around them. Sam smiled from his spot on the ground. "Now here we are. At the top of the show choir heap: _Nationals_!" Nicole let out a whoop.

"I wanna hit up Central Park and get my frolic on," Tina told the rest of the gleeks.

"I wanna, throw stuff off the Brooklyn Bridge," Puck interjected, sending a mischievous smirk Nicole's way.

"Guys, hold on," Finn demanded. "I mean, we still have two songs to write." They groaned.

"Killjoy," Nicole muttered to Sam.

"Okay, Mr. Bossy Pants," Kurt exasperated. "But I think we have some time for a tune before we leave." Tina and Kurt smiled at each other before he broke out into song, "_start spreading the news._"

"_I'm leaving today,_" everyone joined in. "_I wanna be a part of it, New York, New York!_"

"Guys," Rachel interrupted, looking extremely pleased with herself. "I have news."

"This should be good," Sam whispered in Nicole's ear. He saw her smile slightly and nod before leaning back on his shoulder.

"To celebrate our impending win at Nationals, I got us all 13 tickets to Broadway's longest running show ever, _Cats_!" Rachel beamed, showing off her new acquired tickets.

Brittany screamed excitedly, raising her hands in the air. "Yeah you did!"

"You might want to check the date on those tickets, Rachel," Quinn deadpanned, "because _Cats_ closed about 11 years ago." Rachel and the rest of the group frowned.

"He did seem crazy," Rachel admitted, "he charged my credit card by swiping it through his butt crack."

"Gotta love New York," Nicole snorted.

* * *

><p>"Oh my god," Nicole beamed, tightening her grip on Sam's hand. "This place is <em>beautiful<em>! How the hell did Mr. Schue manage to afford this amazing hotel?"

"I have no idea," Sam said in awe, his eyes roaming the paintings that covered the walls. He caught Quinn's eye, who shot a disgusted glare back at him. He frowned. Quinn undoubtedly hated him, and that bugged Sam to no end. He hated to be hated, especially by her. She _was _the first girl he ever was in love with, even if she did walk all over him.

"I'll be right back," Nicole told him. She planted a soft kiss on his lips before breaking away, scurrying off to some other part in the hotel.

Sam swallowed hard before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking over to where Quinn was currently standing. "Hey," he greeted.

She eyed him suspiciously. "Hey," she finally said.

"How are you?"

"Why do you care?" she countered, narrowing her hazel eyes. The very ones that Sam had been so infatuated with before.

"Because, I know that being dumped is hard," Sam said softly.

"Finn didn't dump me," Quinn stated defiantly. "It was a mutual agreement."

"I'm sure it was," Sam assured her. Quinn's previously hard expression morphed into a softer one.

"I thought he was in love with me. But he loves her," she explained sadly, pointing to Rachel, who was currently walking with Finn.

"I know how you feel," Sam said, a tad bitterly. He couldn't help it, she'd done the same thing to him.

Quinn's gaze left Rachel and Finn, returning to him. "I am so sorry about that Sam. It was a huge mistake. I mean, it was all so confusing. I didn't mean to cheat, Sam. It just happened." Sam nodded understandingly, although on the inside he was livid.

"Can I ask you a question?" Quinn's eyebrows fixed together, but she eventually nodded. "Why did you lie to me?"

"I wasn't thinking. I wanted to be with you _and_ Finn."

Sam's jaw clenched. "That's not what I'm talking about."

"Huh?"

"You told me that you loved me," Sam explained. "But then you cheated on me with Finn. You don't cheat on someone that you love." Quinn looked at the ground. "So why? Why would you lead me on like that if you didn't love me? Why would you tell me something when that wasn't how you really felt?"

Quinn was silent for a while. "I really did think I loved you, Sam," she told him finally.

Before Sam could respond, he heard Mr. Schue shout something to Finn.

"Hey Finn," Mr. Schue yelled, "where the hell is Puckerman?"

"You'd better go find Nicole," Quinn advised him. "If she's alone with Puckerman, then this hotel is danger." Sam nodded before giving Quinn's shoulder a squeeze then turning on his heels to look for his girlfriend.

"Uh," Finn stumbled, his gaze drifting to the hotel bar where sure enough Nicole and Puck were seated at.

"I'll have a Manhattan," Puck confidently told the bartender.

"Make that two," Nicole added, smiling next to him innocently.

The bartender looked up from her work of drying dishes to eye the two. "Do you kids even know what's _in _a Manhattan?" she asked.

"Yeah, me. For the first time. Which is why I want to celebrate with a cocktail," Puck stated. Nicole chuckled.

"Guys," Mr. Schue interrupted, placing his hands on the teens' shoulders. "Group meeting in the room, _now_."

Puck's eyes went wide, getting of the bar stool slowly while Nicole turned to Mr. Schue and said, "aye aye, Captain," complete with a salute.

Sam couldn't help but laugh as Mr. Schue rolled his eyes, guiding the two towards the elevators. Sam jogged to catch up with them. "Did you really think you were going to get away with that?" he asked Nicole and Puck. Nicole shrugged.

"Hell, it was worth a shot," Puck smirked.

* * *

><p>Sam was flipping through a rhyming dictionary when he heard a knock on the door. "I got it," he told the rest of the boys, who were working on trying to write some decent lyrics for their Nationals' song. Honestly, he was happy to put that damn book down. His dyslexia was awful and all those letters were making his head hurt. Bad. He opened the door and was greeted by Nicole, who was leaning on the door frame, a dictionary and a pad of paper in her hands and an incredibly annoyed look plastered on her face.<p>

"Hey, babe," she smiled, her clear blue eyes lighting up when she saw Sam. "Can I come in with you guys? Those girls are all jacked up on Mountain Dew and I can't get _shit_ done." Sam smiled and nodded, moving to let her in the room.

"What's up, boys?" she greeted Sam's roommates, plopping herself on a bed while Sam sat back down on the floor. "Got anything written yet?"

"Not really," Artie sighed, putting down his pen.

"Hey, can I try something out on you guys?" Finn asked. Everyone nodded. "I think that one of our songs should be a duet with me and Rachel. "

"I just wanna win," Mike responded immediately. "We all know that you two doing a duet is our best shot at that." He folded up his blank paper into a paper airplane, tossing it in Finn's direction.

"Awesome," Finn beamed, catching the plane once it'd landed on him.

"Okay, can we just talk about the Jewish elephant in the room?" Puck asked, stretching himself out of the couch, reminding Sam of a cat. "Ask her out, dude!"

"Agreed," Nicole piped up, "this will they/won't they shit is killing me."

"Who, Rachel?" Finn gawked at Nicole. She nodded furiously. "But she's totally into _Jesse_ right now." Sam's lip curled up. He _hated_ Jesse St. James, with a passion. How could anyone be into that narcissistic asshole?

"You're in New York, the city of love," Puck explained.

"I thought that was Paris," Sam said, his mouth full of Doritos.

"It is," Nicole assured him. "Damn Puckerman, it's no surprise you're flunking geography." Puck shot Nicki a glare before turning back to Finn.

"Anything's possible here," Puck told Finn encouragingly. "You need to ask her out _tonight_," Puck claimed. "Take her on one of those big awful dates you see on those unwatchable romantic comedies that you grow a vagina if you watch all the way through." Nicole scoffed and tossed her book at Puck, hitting him directly in the chest.

"This is your shot, dude," Sam stated, still chomping on his Doritos. "And if I wasn't homeless, Nicole and I would totally be on one of those things right now."

"Yeah," Nicole agreed, rubbing Sam's hair affectionately, "totally." Sam smiled, leaning towards her until their lips met.

"Gross," Puck scoffed, tossing the book that Nicole had previously thrown at him back at the two teens, "get a room."

* * *

><p>After a few more hours of sitting in the hotel room, attempting to come up with song ideas and failing -<em>terribly-,<em> Nicole claimed that it was time she and Sam, "blew this popsicle stand." Sam had immediately agreed. He'd give anything to spend more alone time with her. They walked hand-in-hand to a small fountain a few blocks from their hotel.

"I wish I lived here," Nicole told Sam, sitting down a bench.

Sam followed her suit, but stated, "I don't."

"What?" Nicole exclaimed, turning towards Sam. "Why the hell not? This town is beautiful! This is where dreams come true."

"Because," Sam explained softly, brushing a stray strand of blonde hair out of Nicole's face, "if I lived here, I never would have met you." Nicole smiled so big that her face nearly broke in half.

"Sam," she cooed, "that's the sweetest thing anyone's ever told me."

"It's true. I don't care where I am. As long as I have you, I'm good," he told her truthfully.

Nicole bit her lower lip, attempting to hold in a whimper. She leaned towards him and said, "you are the best boyfriend that I have ever had." Pressing her lips powerfully against his, Nicole squeezed Sam's thigh, sending tingles up his spine. Sam savored the sweet taste of Nicole's berry lip gloss and let his tongue brush up against her teeth. Being with her, it felt so, so _right_.

Before Sam could stop himself, he pulled his lips away and whispered, "I love you."

Nicole's smile faltered, and she backed away. "Don't say that, Sam."

He frowned too. "Why not?" he asked, genuinely confused. Yes, him saying 'I love you' was an action based purely on impulse, but it _was _how he felt. Was he not allowed to say how he felt now?

"Because, Sam," Nicole stated, suddenly becoming enveloped with a stray thread on her jeans.

"Because _why_?" he pushed, tilting Nicole's chin up, forcing her to look at him. "Why am I not allowed to say that?" He saw her swallow hard, not wanting to speak. "You don't feel the same way," he finally answered for her, removing his hand from her face.

"It's not that I don't care about you, Sam. I do! I like you," Nicole explained, gripping Sam's hand, "I really _really _like you. And I would do anything for you, and I don't want to be with anyone else, but I don't quite think we're at _love_ yet, okay?" She licked her lips, Sam's silence obviously scaring her. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me, Sam," she whimpered.

"I don't hate you, Nicole. I could never hate you."

"Really?" she asked quietly. Sam nodded sadly. "I don't love you _now_, but that doesn't mean I never will. We're getting there, okay?"

"Okay." He wrapped his arm around Nicole, planting a kiss on top of her head. "Thanks for being honest with me."

"You too."

* * *

><p>The air in the concert hall was thick with the distinct smell of hairspray and sweat. Kids in dresses and suits ran around frantically and last minute rehearsals could be heard from everywhere. Sam's own palms were sweaty and his heartbeat was increasing by the second. His grip on the purple lilac in his hand tightened as he searched through the sea of people to find Nicole.<p>

After the whole 'I love you' incident yesterday, things between them were undeniably awkward. And that made him sad. He loved Nicole (he didn't care if she did or not, that's how he felt and he wasn't going to hide it) and he wanted it to work between them. He wanted to be with her. So he'd picked her a flower from a garden (the owners wouldn't miss _one _damn lilac) in an attempt to make amends.

Sam pushed past a few dancing people until he finally found a familiar dirty blonde head. He smiled, jogging towards her. Once he'd gotten closer, he saw that Puck was standing next to her. "Sam doesn't have to know," Puck told Nicki, brushing his hand against hers. Sam's eyebrows furrowed together and he darted behind a nearby pillar, not wanting to be seen.

She rolled her eyes and pulled away. "Stop it, Puck."

"C'mon, baby. You know you want to."

"I'm being serious. Stop, people are _staring_," she said uncomfortably, glancing at bystanders.

"Well let's give them something to look at," Puck smirked, leaning into Nicole. Before Puck's lips could reach hers, she stood up suddenly.

"I have a boyfriend, for fuck's sake! Do you have any morals? Or a conscience?" she questioned accusingly. Giving him another dirty look, she turned on her heels, marching towards Sam. Sam thought this would be the best time to show his face, before fucking Puck made another move on _his _girl again.

"Nicki! _Nicki_! I was kidding! Don't be like that," Puck called after her. Nicole stomped away from him furiously, her arms crossed over her chest. Sam cautiously stepped out from behind the pillar, giving her his best attempt at a smile although his blood was boiling.

"Sam," Nicole greets him. "I was just looking for you." Sam's jaw clenched, but he forced another smile before pressing his lips against hers forcefully. He could feel Puck's glare at his action, but Sam didn't give a shit. "Woah there tiger," Nicole exclaimed, pushing Sam away from her after a few seconds, "simmer down. I need these lips to sing." She laughed, her eyes darting back and forth between Puck and Sam.

"Sorry babe," Sam apologized fakely, pulling her towards him, "you just look so gorgeous in this dress I can't keep my hands off of you." He glanced quickly at Puck, who looked disgusted and annoyed. "Here," he held out the flower for her to grab, "I got this for you."

"Thanks so much, hon." Nicole smiled, putting the flower up to her nose. "It's beautiful. I'm going to go check my hair, I'll see you later." She gave him a peck on the cheek before heading off to find the bathroom.

Now that Nicole was gone, Sam and Puck glared at each other freely. "Hey Bieber, your lips are look especially big today."

Sam glared at the mowhawked boy. "Stay away from Nicole."

Puck quirked an eyebrow, "huh?"

"I heard you, douchebag. She's _my _girlfriend. Stay _away_."

Puck crossed his arms over his muscular chest, and stepped towards Sam. "Who's gonna make me? Huh? Are you, Trouty Mouth? Do you really think you can _force_ me to do _shit_?" Sam clenched his jaw together. "That's cute, Evans."

"Go to hell, Puckerman," Sam spat as menacingly as he could.

"Whatever," Puck breathed, uncrossing his arms. "I'm gonna go see if Nicki needs help 'checking her hair'." Puck smirked once more before leaving Sam alone. Fucking Puckerman.

_**Damn… that was a close one. What did you think? You like it?**_


	9. Knockout

_**Thanks Extreme Liz! Anyone else who favorited or alerted, you rock. This is coming early, because I'm gonna go on another short trip without internet access, so I thought "better sooner than later." I'm really excited about this chapter, I hope you guys like it as much as I do. And, shit, this is the longest chapter I've ever written.**_

**Chapter 9: "Knockout"**

**Nicole**

"No, Brittany," Nicki exasperated, running her fingers through her own dirty blonde hair, "that's not what foreshadowing means." Explaining shit to Brittany was really tiring.

"Yes it is," Brittany stated simply, obviously not convinced by Nicki's statement. "Foreshadowing is when a shadow is in the shape of a four!"

"No! Foreshadowing is in, like, a play when an event happens that hints at something that's gonna happen later on."

"Nicki, that's foreclosure," Brittany corrected and Nicki chuckled. The girl sounded so damn sure of herself, Nicki almost had to believe her.

Before she could come up with an argument, Sam walked into the choir room. She smiled at her boyfriend, offering him a spot next to her. He accepted, kissing her softly on the lips before sitting down. "Hey, cutie," Nicki greeted, playing with the collar on his shirt.

"Hi Nicole," Sam responded, placing a hand on her knee. "How's my favorite girl doing?"

"Great. How's my boy?"

"Fantastic." Sam's full lips turned up into a smile before he kissed Nicki again. Once the kiss was over, she tightened her grip on his collar, pulling him towards her again. Sam's lips were so soft and they were like silk against hers. She felt like she could quite literally kiss him all day.

"Aw," Brittany cooed. "You guys are so cute together. Like Barbie and Ken, but bigger. And not plastic."

Sam and Nicki grinned. "Thanks, Brittany," Sam said, nuzzling his nose against Nicki's neck, causing her to giggle.

"McKinley really needs to have a rule against public displays of affection. Especially when it is so vile and wrong," Quinn scoffed as she sauntered into the room.

"Bitter much?" Nicole asked bitchly as she watched the other blonde take a seat on the opposite end of the room.

"Whatever, skank," Quinn growled.

"I'd rather be a skank than a stuck-up _prude_," Nicki shot back. Quinn simply rolled her eyes. Nicki smirked victoriously until Sam tapped her lightly on the leg.

"Lay off her," Sam whispered, defending his ex-girlfriend.

"Excuse me?" she enquired, surprised by Sam's words. Since _when_ did he start taking Quinn's side? Especially against _her_, his fucking _girlfriend_!

"She just," he tried to explain tenderly, "she's going through a lot of shit lately with Finn. She's just stressed. Don't make it worse."

"What in the _hell _are you talking about? Why are you defending her?" She ripped away from Sam's grip, jaw clenched.

"C'mon babe, just, I don't understand why you and her have to act so rudely towards one another." She felt like slapping him across the face. Was he really _that_ fucking _transparent_? Quinn had made Sam _alienate _her for like three fucking months. She had embarrassed her on numerous occasions: whether it be by calling her a man, skank, loser, whore, moron, nerd, fat-ass, bitch or an idiotic boyfriend-stealing bimbo. In fact, many people at school still thought that _Nicki _was the reason Sam and Quinn broke up. On top of all that, she didn't _do_ anything to the girl to make her hate Nicki so deeply. Before she could respond to Sam, Mr. Schue walked into the room.

"Hey, guys!" Mr. Schuester greeted the gleeks warmly.

"Mr. Schue?" Puck asked, raising his hand. Somehow he'd successfully managed to come into the room without Nicki noticing.

"Yeah Puck?"

"I have something that I wanna sing. That cool?"

Mr. Schue looked unsurely around the room before nodding, "sure. Go ahead." Puck grinned before grabbing his guitar from a stand and taking center stage.

"Okay," Puck began, placing the guitar around his shoulder, "I guess this song kinda says it all." He winked in Nicki's direction before slowly strumming. Nicki's eyebrow quirked up, what the hell did Puck have up his sleeve? Sam gave her a questioning glance, obviously confused too, so she shrugged, telling him she didn't know what the fuck was going on. "_Hey baby girl, I've been watching you all day. Man that thing you got behind you is amazing." _Nicki frowned, her cheeks flushing a pink shade. He could _not _be singing to her. No way. No fucking way.

"_I know you got a man but this is what you should say. Why don't you tell him that I'm leavin'. Never coming back again. You found somebody who does it better than he can,_" Puck continued, his hazel eyes locked on her blue ones. No this could not be happening. It had to be a dream. But by the angry look on Sam's face and the immensely confused looks on everyone else's, it was very real. "_Have you singing all night that's right_." Before Puck could sing anymore, Nicki shot up in her chair and started screaming bloody murder.

To her pleasure, Puck stopped strumming his guitar and singing. To her dismay, everyone's eyes were now on her. "Nicki, are you okay?" Mr. Schue asked unsurely. Her eyes opened wide, not sure what the say.

"Uh, I just," she stumbled, "I have cramps." She gripped her stomach and tried her best to look like she was in pain, but he still eyed her suspiciously. "Really, _really _bad cramps." She glanced down at the ground, hoping he would buy her fake case of PMS.

"Oh, well," Mr. Schue said, not at all convinced, "can you sit back down? So Puck can finish?"

Finish the rest of his performance? "No! Have you ever had cramps, Mr. Schue? They _suck_. So, I need to go to the nurse. Now."

"You can go visit the nurse once Puck's done." She groaned silently.

"I can't wait. I'll just go, now." She didn't give him a chance to object, she ran out of the room, grabbing Puck along the way. The mowhawked boy followed her with little objection, looking rather amused. Once they'd gotten a safe distance away from the choir room, Nicki whipped Puck around, shoving him up against a row of lockers.

"Damn, Nick," Puck smirked, "I didn't know you liked it so rough."

"What in the _hell _was that in there?" she demanded.

"I needed to get your attention," he shrugged. "Now, where were we?" He smirked again, bringing his mouth closer to hers, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Hey," she heard a voice interrupt from across the hall, "what the hell are you doing Puckerman?" Nicki cautiously pulled away from Puck, turning around to see who the voice belonged to. Sam. Of fucking course. The blonde boy stormed towards them, obviously fuming.

"Sam," Nicki squeaked, barely able to find her voice, "this isn't what it looks like…"

He, of course, wasn't listening to her. Stomping towards Puck, he rammed the jock up against the lockers, grabbing Puck's shirt in his fisted hands. "I told you to stay away from her," Sam said, his voice dangerously low.

"Shit, are you my fucking old man, Evans? You're not the boss of me," Puck countered, obviously not scared by the blonde's action.

"Sam, let go of him!" Nicki pleaded, terrified of what was going to happen.

"She has a boyfriend, god dammit. Me. She doesn't want you," Sam told Puck.

"Oh really? You don't sound so sure, Trouty Mouth," Puck growled, raising his hands and ripping Sam's grip off of his t-shirt. "You don't deserve her," he spat, walking towards Sam and causing the big-lipped boy to step back a few steps.

"Who does, Puck? You?" Puck's lip curled up, and Sam stopped walking so the two boys were face to face. "You don't give a shit about her, Puckerman. You don't give a shit about anyone! You are a stupid Neanderthal," Sam claimed, poking Puck's shoulder with every word he spat.

Puck grunted, before raising his fist and slamming it towards Sam's nose. Nicki cried out, "Puck! What the hell? Stop!" but it did nothing to calm the boys. Sam staggered backwards, then growling and punching Puck back, this time in the shoulder. Puck grabbed Sam's shoulders, shoving him down to the ground. Puck landed on top of the blonde, punching him again.

"Puck _stop_! Get off of him, get _off_!" Nicki screamed, her hands shaking due to her severe terror for her boyfriend's safety. "Mr. Schue! Mr. Schuester!" she cried again, pleading to get her Spanish teacher's attention. She knew that _she _couldn't get the two muscled boys off of each other, but he might be able to.

Sam spat out some blood from his mouth, and Nicki whimpered. He shook his head, probably trying to shake away some of the pain, before throwing another punch to Puck's eye. "Sam! Stop it! Puck, get off of him!" Mr. Schuester yelled, running towards the two boys, tugging on Puck's shoulder. "Puckerman, Sam, quit it _right now_," Mr. Schue demanded and Puck reluctantly got off of Sam. "What the hell is _wrong _with you two?" Nicki ran towards Sam, trying to help her battered boyfriend off the floor.

"Get off me," Sam grunted, shoving Nicki away, before stumbling towards Puck, attempting to get another hit in. She grabbed him again, inspecting his cut lip and bloodied nose.

"Quit it, Sam. Pushing me away isn't going to help anything," she told him a bit angrily. She noticed the rest of the glee members were running out of the choir room, their eyes widening at the sight of the two boys.

"Nicki, go get Sam cleaned up," Mr. Schue ordered her, grabbing Puck's shoulders to make sure he didn't lunge at Sam again. Nicki nodded in agreement before taking Sam by the arm and leading him to the nurse's office. He followed angrily, grumbling curse words as he held his nose. Once they'd gotten into the nurse's office, Nicki led him to the plastic-covered bed and he sat down. She sighed before rummaging through the cabinets to find some supplies.

Unfortunately, it was after school hours so the nurse had left for the day. But Nicki had broken her nose plenty of times, so she hoped that she could set Sam's correctly. In the cabinets she found medical tape, a few popsicle sticks, disinfectant wipes, a bottle of aspirin and went to the freezer to get an icepack.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked her, still gripping his nose.

She rolled her eyes and set her materials on the bed. "Take off your shirt," she ordered.

"Huh?" Sam enquired.

"Take. Off. Your. Shirt," she repeated, slower this time. "I need to get the blood out of it before it sets. You like that shirt, don't you?" Sam nodded. "Then you don't want it stained. Please, take it off." Sam sighed before reluctantly taking off his worn soft grey McKinley Titans t-shirt and handed it to her. "Okay," she said, taking the shirt to the sink and running it under some hot water. Sam groaned again and she decided that the shirt could wait, _he _needed to be taken care of now, so she dropped the shirt in the sink. She pulled the rolling chair that was sitting at the counter towards the bed, sitting on it and tearing open the pack of disinfectant wipes with her teeth.

"Thanks for this," Sam said softly, placing a hand on her hip while she gingerly wiped off the blood from a ring around his mouth and underneath his nose.

"What are girlfriends for?" she asked rhetorically and smiled sadly at Sam. "Smile," she ordered and Sam showed her his pearly whites. "Hey! You have all your teeth!" Sam grinned the best he could.

"That's a plus." She laughed, glad he was keeping his sense of humor.

"This is going to hurt a lot," she warned him as she prepared to clean his nose off. "I want you to grab my waist and squeeze it when it gets to be too much, okay?" Sam nodded, placing his both of hands around her hips. Biting her lip, she grabbed another wipe and raised it to Sam's nose.

"Ow!" Sam cried out, gripping her pelvis bone. Nicki laughed. "What is so damn funny?" he asked between gritted teeth.

"I didn't even touch it yet, you big baby," she giggled before swiping the ruby red blood off of his delicate nose.

"Okay, _OW_," Sam groaned, "that one was real."

"Almost done, babe," Nicole told him before wiping away the remaining blood that sat on the bridge of his nose, grabbing a few tissues and placing them under his nostrils to get the blood that was still leaking out. "There," she exclaimed.

"All done?" Sam asked hopefully, placing his hand on the tissues to keep them in place. Nicki shook her head.

Tilting his head up, she said, "I don't think it's broken, but I still need to put a brace on it. That's going to _really _suck."

"Awesome."

"Why the hell did you even start with Puck?" Nicki asked him frustratedly.

"What were you two doing?" he countered angrily.

"Nothing," she spat, tossing the dirty wipes in a nearby waste basket and getting up to turn the sink water off.

"Sure as shit didn't _look _like nothing."

"Well, it was." She grabbed the popsicle sticks and medical tape from the bed, placing them on Sam's lap.

"I saw you and Puck at Nationals."

"Huh?" she asked, sitting back down.

"I saw Puck flirting with you. Why didn't you tell me?"

"You heard that?" she asked quizzically. He nodded. "Then you _heard_ me telling Puck to back off. You _heard _me telling Puck that I was with you. Right?" Sam's mouth fell open slightly. "That's what I thought."

Sam glanced down at the ground, shamefully. "Just tell me if you're cheating on me."

"What," she asked, sounding like more of a statement than a question.

"Are you cheating on me with Puck?" he questioned. "Please, Nicole, tell me. I can't take any more lies."

Her jaw dropped and she hit Sam in the shoulder powerfully. "Are you _shitting_ me?"

"Today, it looked like you and Puck were kissing. Are you having an affair with him?"

She huffed, picked up two popsicle sticks placing them on either side of his nose. "No, Sam, I'm not. Now hold these." Sam did as he was told, holding the sticks with one hand and the tissues with another while his eyes remained locked on Nicki.

"Promise?" he asked again. Nicki looked at Sam's green blue eyes, which were slightly bloodshot and filled with tears.

She placed a hand on his knee. "I promise Sam," she whispered, planting a soft kiss on his lip, being careful not to touch his nose. "I love you."

"What?" he whispered back, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"I love you, Sam. I know I told you I wasn't ready to say that yet, but I am. I _love_ you. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me in my fucked up life. You are the only person I want to be with, I _promise _I would _never_ cheat on you. Never, never, never." Sam smiled taking one of his hands off of the popsicle sticks and placing it on her neck, tenderly rubbing the skin.

"I love you," Sam told Nicki before pressing his lips against hers, entangling his fingers in her hair. After a few more seconds of kissing Nicki broke away, wiping some tears off of her cheek. "Fuck," Sam groaned, placing his hand over his nose.

"I'm so sorry baby!" Nicki exclaimed, realizing she'd probably bumped into Sam's nose a few times while kissing him. "Let me fix it." She picked up the popsicle sticks from the tile floor, wiping them off on her jeans before placing them on Sam's nose and taping them with five pieces of the cream-colored medical tape.

Sam groaned and gripped Nicki's thigh due to the pain. "Woah, you weren't over exaggerating, huh? This hurts like hell," he muttered through gritted teeth.

"Well," Nicki said, "maybe you'll think twice before getting into a fight with a dude who's bigger than you next time."

"He deserved it," Sam spat.

Nicki sighed. "Calm down, Hulk," she told him jokingly before getting up. She grabbed a disposable paper cup, filled it with cold water and handed it to Sam. Once he'd taken it, she took the bottle of aspirin, popped the lid off and shook the bottle until 4 small blue pills fell out. "Take these," she ordered. Sam opened his mouth wide. She rolled her eyes and placed the blue tablets on his bright pink tongue. "Baby," she muttered, bringing his hand up to his mouth, forcing him to take a gulp of water.

"Thanks, Nicole," Sam said sweetly, crushing the paper Dixie cup into a basketball before throwing it into the trash can. Nicki walked back over to the sink, grabbing the sopping wet grey t-shirt and ringing it out like a towel, the water falling from it a shade of pink. Once all the excess water had been drained, she held the shirt up and cocked her head to the right, inspecting it.

"It's not too bad," she noted, "most of the blood came out." She heard the crinkling of plastic and soon two large hands were being placed around her hips and a chin perched on her shoulder. "What are you doing?" she asked curiously, as he brushed his soft lips against her cheek.

"Kissing my amazing girlfriend," Sam whispered huskily into her ear, sending shivers up her spine. "That okay with you?"

Nicki turned around, tugging him closer and feeling the deep contours of his chiseled chest. "Of course," she smiled before pressing her lips against his again, melding their mouths into one another's.

A loud "ahem," broke the two apart and they looked to see who the voice belonged to. A very red-faced Mr. Schuester stood at the door, his arms crossed over his chest. Sam stepped away from her, glancing at the ground. "You okay, Sam?" Mr. Schue asked cautiously, rubbing the back of his neck.

Sam nodded, "Nicole fixed me up really good." Nicki grinned and grabbed the condensation covered ice pack off the bed.

"Keep this on," she ordered, gingerly placing the pack on his nose. Sam winced, but nodded. "Hopefully some of the bruising should go down."

"Hey, Nicki?" Mr. Schue asked her. "Can I talk to Sam for a minute?" Nicki glanced at her boyfriend again before nodding. She gave Sam another kiss on the cheek before leaving the two men alone.

She closed the door and was almost immediately attacked by her fellow glee club members.

"Oh my god!" Mercedes exclaimed, pulling Nicki into a rib-crushing embrace.

"Is Sam okay?" Rachel questioned worriedly. She nodded.

"What the hell happened?" Mike asked, clearly concerned.

"You don't even want to fucking know," Nicki said gravely.

* * *

><p>The next few days of school had been extremely boring. Sam and Puck had both been suspended for the remainder of the week (which was stupid, there were like <em>6 <em>days of school left), and now Nicki was forced to walk by herself. She didn't know it before, but she _really _missed having Sam accompany her. She'd felt nice, safe, comforted.

But, luckily for her, the school day was over. She didn't have glee today, so all she had to do was go home. Maybe swing by Sam's. She walked solemnly out to her car, cursing the weather for being so damn shitty. It was raining, not pouring, but not exactly sprinkling either. She growled, shuffling faster towards her black Lexus and holding her bag over her head to try and shield her from some of the rain.

She trudged her leather boots across the black asphalt, sighing when she had _finally _gotten to her damn car. Fishing her keys out of her bag, she unlocked it.

"Hey," a soft voice whispered in her ear. Startled, she screamed and turned around to see a damp Puck who was wearing a red sweatshirt, a white wife-beater and worn dark blue jeans with a purpling bruise under his left eye.

"Holy shit, Puckerman," she cried out, "are you _trying _to give me a fucking heart attack?" She rolled her eyes before turning around to open her door.

"No," Puck said softly, placing a hand on her arm. "I wanted to talk to you."

She sighed, "aren't you supposed to be suspended? And not on school grounds?"

He shrugged. "I've never really been a stickler for rules."

"What the fuck do you want? It's raining. I'm freezing and I want to go home."

He was silent for a while, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. "I wanna be with you, Nicki." His words didn't really surprise her. 'Being' with her was all he talked about now a days. But, it did piss her off.

"Tough shit. I don't feel the same way," she said cruelly, feeling no need to hide her growing hatred for this boy.

"But-"

"But _what_?"

"But, I love you," he whispered.

A sudden burst of anger spread through out her body. "No! No you don't! You don't know the first thing about love." Puck's face looked genuinely hurt, but Nicki couldn't care less.

"Yes, I do," he stuttered.

"Fuck you, Puck! Seriously! Why? Why now? Why are you telling me about this _now_? Because I'm with Sam? Fuck you," she screamed, barely being able to constrain herself from punching the boy in the face.

"You think I like this?" Puck countered. "You think I _like _hitting on another dude's chick? I don't! But I can't help myself. When I look at you, I get this fucking tingly-ass feeling in my stomach. My palms get sweaty and my hearts start doing freaking back-flips. You are so amazing, Nicki. So beautiful and smart and talented and funny and sincere and generous and a bunch of other shit. I've never felt like this before, about _anyone_." Nicki didn't speak, simply leaving her mouth open and shutting it again, like a fish gulping for water. "Nicki please. _Please_."

"No," she responded.

"Nicki-" Puck began, but she quickly cut him off.

"You had your chance to speak, Puck. It's my turn now." He looked like he was about to object, but he eventually closed his mouth. "How dare you? Do you really think that I'm going to dump my amazing, sweet boyfriend, whom I love, just to have some- what? Two week fling with you before you change your mind and find another chick to fuck?" Puck swallowed hard and looked down at his feet. "That's the thing about you Puck," she said, her voice thick with tears. She silently thanked Mother Nature for making it pour, at least now he couldn't tell she was crying. "All you ever think about is sex."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is!"

Puck sighed, "is it just Sam? Or do you really not want to be with me?"

"What?" she spat. "I don't want to _be_ with you!"

He stepped closer to her, placing his wet hand on her neck. "You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," she said, although her voice didn't come out as confident as she hoped.

Puck tilted his head down towards hers, their rain-covered mouths less than an inch away from each others. "Are you _really _gonna tell me that you don't want me?" Just as Nicki was about to respond, Puck pressed his lips against hers, leaving her stunned. As soon as the kiss began, it ended, Puck slowly pulling away. "Really?" he repeated again.

Nicki's eyebrows furrowed together, not knowing what to say. Her mind was swimming, so she decided to act upon the emotion she conveyed best. She brought her hand up to Puck's face, smacking him hard. "What the _fuck_?" she muttered, breathing heavily as the rain down poured on the two. Puck looked stunned, too, rubbing his cheek.

"You are so goddamn _full _of yourself! What makes you think I want to be with you? Just because you want me?" Puck didn't speak, just blinking his hazel eyes. "I. Don't. Want. You. Point blank." She gave another angry huff, stomping towards her car. Before she opened her door, she turned back to Puck and spat, "you know what Puck? It's not Sam, or me that's wrong. It's _you_. Even if I wasn't with Sam, I still wouldn't want you. You are an arrogant, self-centered, idiotic, Lima Loser who chews women up and spits them out!" Nicki sensed she'd taken this a bit too far by the look on Puck's face. It looked like what she guessed Brittany's would be if you told her unicorns weren't real. "Don't talk to me. Ever again." She licked her lips unsurely, getting in her car and turning the key in the ignition.

_**Anyone of you switch to Team Puck (shit, that sounded a lot like Twilight, not a good thing)? Or do you all just hate Nicki right now?**_

_**Puck's song that he sang was: "Leavin'"- by Jesse McCartney. Yeah, Puck and Jesse. Wow, I'm even a little disappointed in that.**_

_**Please review! Pretty pretty please with M&Ms and Reese's on top?**_


	10. Heartless

_**Heeeeeey! I'm ba-ack! Jeez, it's been forever since I posted, I apologize. Writer's block is a bitch, and she reared her ugly-ass head this chapter. But, thanks to Taylor Francis Rose, she went back to her cave! Thanks a bunch, hun. I owe you big time. And for those of you who haven't, you should read her story: Glee Candy. It's awesome. Thanks Oh Leah Darling, jmllei, NightVixen 19, missemilyfleur and Taylor Francis Rose for reviewing plus anyone else who favorited/alerted! Much love. This chapter is less funny/romantic, more serious. **_

_**PS: Have y'all seen Hot Chelle Rae's music video for Tonight, Tonight? Fucking amazing. It has sexy blonde Chord Overstreet (who I'm extremely upset with for cutting his hair AND dying it brown!) Anywaysssss, without further adue, here's chapter 10!**_

**Chapter 10: "Heartless" **

**Puck**

Puck sat on the floor next to his bed, a Bud Light in hand with the rest of the six-pack in reaching distance. He took a gulp of the golden liquid, sighing. He was a dumbass. And, according to Nicki, an "arrogant, self-centered, idiotic, Lima Loser who chews women up and spits them out." Yep, she really hit the nail on the head with that one.

What the _fuck _was he thinking? Blurting out his feelings to her, when _he _wasn't even sure of them? For fuck's sake. And kissing her? What was that? He lip-raped the girl!

She didn't love him. Shit, he'd be surprised if she still even _liked _him. Puck couldn't blame her, he was an ass. He'd openly flirted with a taken girl. And beat up her boyfriend. And kissed her against her will.

Damn. _Such _an ass.

No wonder Nicki didn't want to be with him. She had _Sam_. And Sam was, well, Sam. He was perfect. He was nice and sang well and was in great shape and had that fucking Bieber haircut and those big-ass lips and was the damn quarterback! Girls _drooled _over him.

And here was Puck. A pathetic, low-life, drunken creep. A dude that sleeps with girls, never with the intent of seeing them again. And the fucking cougars. Shit. He slept with _married women _for money to buy fucking nun chucks! He might as well be a damn stripper.

Now that he thought about it, he never saw any of the girls because _they _didn't want to. The girls were simply horny. And they knew Puck was good for a fuck, and that he wouldn't want to see them again either. Or they were too embarrassed of sleeping for Lima's unofficial male prostitute. Puck was a man whore.

He frowned at the thought. Downing the remainder of his beer, he crushed the can. He reached across the floor, grabbed a new Bud Light, noticing it was the last one. Shit, he already drank five? He shrugged and popped open the top, gulping down the luke-warm beverage.

Maybe that's all Puck was good for. A hump-and-dump. He was a living dildo.

His mind began swimming, finally feeling the effects of the alcohol.

He was worthless, that's what Nicki meant to say: he was a worthless piece of shit who was good for sex, nothing else and would never be loved by anyone except for his fucking mom. Nicki has just been trying to spare his fucking feelings by not telling him so.

He blew out a puff of air. Life sucked. And so did he. He was no better than those losers he used to throw in the dumpster or throw into lockers. He was just as useless.

He'd been fooling himself all along, making himself think that girls adored him. That he had tons of friends. That anyone who didn't like him, feared him because Puck was the _shit_ with a capital 's.' That he ruled Lima.

But one girl, one _fucking _girl had pulled the damn rug right out from under him. Made him realize that he did have feelings, and that he'd been hiding them by screwing numerous chicks. Made him realize that people _didn't _like him, they _hated _him. Made him realize that he really only had a handful of friends, everyone else just pretended to be nice in fear of being beat-up. Made him realize that under this shitty 'bad-ass' façade, he was _extremely _self-conscious.

He took another chug of beer.

What the fuck had he become? This, this vulnerable, emotional, whiny wimp? That was _not _Puckzilla. Not even fucking _close. _

Another chug.

He had to get the old Puck back. The one that didn't give a rat's ass what anyone thought. Didn't feel 'love,' or what the Puck-version of love was.

He finished off the rest of his beer, slamming the can down on the carpeted floor triumphantly.

Puckasarus felt _lust, _not this romantic chick-flick shit. All Puck cared about was drinking, partying and screwing chicks.

And summer? It was the best time to fucking do it.

* * *

><p>Puck walked on the cobble-stone walkway leading to Nicki's house. It was late in the afternoon but the summer sun still beat down on his neck, making his skin form tiny beads of sweat. Once he'd arrived at the gigantic door, he hesitated. Was this really a good idea?<p>

_Of course it is_, a voice in the back of his head told him. _Quit being such a little bitch and ring the damn doorbell. This is the first step to getting your old self back. _Puck nodded in agreement and pushed the doorbell. He heard a pretty chime echo through out the house, but no response. He waited a little bit longer, teetering back and forth on his heels. A few minutes passed: nothing. Frowning, he knocked on the heavy wood door a couple times.

"I'm _coming_!" he heard a voice from inside scream. "Jesus! Have a little patience!" There was a stomp of heels and the door opened, revealing a short girl. Her hair was raven-black and in a high ponytail with a bump. Her lips were nude and glossy but she wore heavy eyeliner and bronzer. Not that she really needed the bronzer, but… Puck frowned. Did he come to the wrong house? This chick was _not _familiar, at all.

"Hey! I know you!" she announced.

However, she apparently knew him. "Yeah, uh-"

"You're Puck!" she exclaimed, her smile wide. "Nicole's friend."

Oh. So he _was _at the right house. "Uh huh. Sorry," Puck said, turning on his charm, "it's not usually like me to forget a girl's name, especially one as beautiful as you, but would you please remind me?"

The girl giggled slightly and Puck smirked, happy he was still a sexy Casanova. "It's Jen. I'm Nicole's step-sister."

Step-sister? Nicki never mentioned a step-sister. Yeah, he knew about Junior, but he didn't know Jen. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Jen. It's a shame Nicki didn't introduce us before." Jen continued to smile brightly.

"What happened to your eye?" Jen asked bluntly, pointing at the now yellow/green bruise blooming from underneath his eye.

"Just a little fight. No biggie," Puck shrugged, knowing full well Jen would easily fall for his bad boy charm. They all did.

"Wow," she admired. "That's, like, _so _cool." She batted her long mascara-covered lashes at him and twisted a piece of what he was sure were extensions around her finger. It was too fucking easy.

"It's a'ight. All part of protecting the rep." Jen continued to gaze at him, and he was pretty sure her panties were _soaked_ at this point but he decided to do what he came here for. "Do you know if Nicole's around?"

Jen frowned at the question, but eventually said, "She said something about hanging out with that Bieber look-a-like today, but I _guess _I could see if she's still here."

"I would be very thankful," Puck told her. Jen giggled again before inviting him inside.

"I'll just be a second," she whispered in Puck's ear. Yeah, he decided, Puckerone's still fucking got it. "Nicole! Ni_cole_!" Jen screeched, stomping down the steps to find her step-sister. Puck took this as an opportunity to check-out her ass. It was okay. Nothing compared to Nicki's, but definitely something he could work with. Jen soon disappeared from Puck's sight and he heard squabbling coming from downstairs, but he was too far away to hear what they were saying. After a few minutes, a hesitant Nicki walked up the steps, Jen hot on her heels.

"What are you doing here?" Nicki demanded as she stepped closer to him.

"Hello to you too," he said jokingly.

"What are you _doing _here?" she repeated, looking beyond irritated.

"Uh," he began, his gaze shifting from Nicki to Jen, who hadn't left yet. She was still standing close to Nicki, hanging onto Puck's every word. "Hey, babe? Could you maybe give me and Nicki just a few minutes?" Jen frowned again. "It'll only be a sec, I promise."

"Fine," she groaned, giving Nicki's hip a light shove as she sashayed out of the room.

"Why didn't you tell me you had another sister? And such a hot one, at that," Puck told Nicki, smirking.

"Puckerman, for the last _fucking _time. What are you doing here?" Nicki grumbled, her arms crossed defiantly over her chest.

He sighed, deciding to get serious. "Look, Nick, I know you said you never wanted me to talk to you again. And I completely get that. What I did, and have been doing," he added, "was completely wrong. You have a boyfriend, and I should've respected that."

"Keep going," Nicki ordered, she eyeing him unsurely.

"I've been an asshole. What happened in the parking lot, it was stupid. And me hitting on you and making you feel uncomfortable, that was a douche-bagy thing for me to do. I'm sorry. For everything," he finished, looking down slightly.

Nicki sighed. "I'm sorry too, Puck. I was really rude to you. I didn't mean what I said."

"Whatever," he breathed, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. He didn't need her pity.

"Puck-" she started to explain, but he quickly cut her off.

"It's whatever, Nick. Let's just, forget it ever happened. Seriously, I didn't mean any of the things I said neither."

Her lightly freckled face drew together. "Huh?"

"I didn't mean the shit I said," he repeated, determined to act like an emotionless asshole. That's what he was, right?

"Puck, you don't have to lie-"

"I ain't lying," he spat. "I _don't_ love you. I don't know what love _is_, remember?"

She licked her lips, a nervous tick that Puck noticed she had. "I told you I didn't mean that. I had no right to say it, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he shrugged.

"Puck-"

"Don't, Nick. Just, just don't." She fell silent and lowered her head. "You tell Sam 'bout what happened?"

She frowned slightly. "Maybe."

"You should tell him," he advised. "He's gonna find out eventually."

"You said to forget it ever happened," she reminded him.

He shrugged. "It's whatever you want to do, Nick. Your choice, your boyfriend, I don't wanna get involved." She nodded slowly, still not making eye contact with him. "I'm gonna peace out. I have places to go, chicks to do." She didn't laugh at his joke, either because she wasn't in the mood to laugh or she knew he was serious. "I'll, I'll see ya around."

"Uh huh," she agreed, "I'll see ya." Puck nodded before heading towards the door.

"Hey Nicki," Puck called to her before he opened the door to leave.

"Yeah?" she asked, seemingly distracted.

"Tell your step-sister to give me a call," he winked. She narrowed her eyes at him, confused. But before she could say another word, he shut the door.

* * *

><p>Getting Jen to sleep with him was amazingly easy. Just a few days after his visit with Nicki, Jen had called him, eager to meet up. With a few smooth words, she'd been all over him like dip on a chip.<p>

It was incredibly empowering, knowing that he could manipulate a girl without even fucking trying. He felt like the old Puck. The old, sex-shark, bad-ass, manly Puck.

But, there was this, _nagging _feeling in the back of his mind. Telling him that treating girls like this was wrong. That no one liked being treated like this, that _he'd _hate if a girl fucked and ran. That he was overreacting, and should stop.

The feeling would go away eventually. Right? He just needed, to, get used to it again. Or ignore it. Either one was fine with him.


	11. Confessions

_**Sorry it's been so fucking long since I last updated, I know I suck. But, hopefully, this drama-packed chapter will slightly make up for it? Please? Thanks to the amazing Taylor Francis Rose and My Name Is Prongs for reviewing and anyone else who favorited or alerted? You rock. Here's Chapter 11!**_

**Chapter 11: Confessions**

**Sam**

"We're he-re!" Nicole announced to Sam as she shifted her car into park.

Sam smiled sadly, attempting to be enthusiastic, but he couldn't even _try _to fake it. He didn't want to be here. At all. He still looked fucked up from the fight, his nose was bruised and swollen and he'd refused Nicole's offer to cover it with make-up. Plus, he _really _didn't want to see fucking Puck again. Puck always showed up at these kinds of things, and another argument is not something Sam wanted to get into.

"Baby," she whined, sensing Sam's negativity, "just relax, okay? Everything is gonna be _fine_."

"How do you know that?" he asked grumpily.

"Because I do," she stated firmly, getting out of the car and motioning for Sam to do the same. He grumbled, but eventually took off his seatbelt and exited the car. "Will you please just _pretend _to be excited? Pretty pretty please with sugar on top?" she pleaded, walking to Sam's side of the car and latching herself onto his waist. "You haven't seen anyone for a few weeks-"

"There's a good reason for that," he mumbled, but Nicole pretended she didn't hear him.

"-And everyone has really missed you!" she continued, slowly walking towards the house, pulling Sam along with her.

"Yeah right."

Nicole blew out a puff of air, and pulled Sam off of the sidewalk and onto the grass. "Stop being such a Debby Downer. Please? You _know _everyone from glee loves you-" Sam shot her a unsure look, and she backtracked, "Okay, _most _everyone from glee loves you. We all care about you, we're your friends! You're gonna have fun tonight, whether you like it or not!" she poked Sam in the chest. He smiled and pulled her in for a hug.

"I love you," he told her, kissing the top of her blonde head.

"I love you too, Sammy," she smiled, planting a kiss on his chest.

"But why do we have to _go_?" he whined and he could see Nicole roll her eyes. "Can't we just have a get-together with the glee kids? Why do we have to go to this stupid party with people we don't even know?"

She sighed again. "Samuel, you are being _extremely _difficult." He furrowed his brows. "Think of it this way: this party is just full of friends you haven't met yet."

"Where the hell did you get that from?"

"Babe, you're going to have fun. You just gotta, go with the flow and let it happen. Kay?" She batted her long, mascara-covered lashes and stuck her glossed lower lip out.

"Kay," he mumbled feebly before letting Nicole grab one of his hands and walk him towards the house.

The house, Sam wasn't even sure who it belonged to, was huge. The only light illuminating it was the street lights, but the brightness bounced off of the house's huge glass windows beautifully. At least 20 cars were parked around the house and he could hear music blasting from inside. A few people stood outside the house, but he could tell the majority of people were inside. Nicole picked up her speed, her heels clanking on the cement. Once they'd gotten to the door, Sam took a deep breath and held the door open for her to go in.

The party was _packed_. There were people overflowing out of the humungous house and music from the stereo was so loud that it vibrated the house's foundation. Nicole smiled excitedly, pulling Sam by his shirt hem into a massive crowd of people. He let himself be dragged along, smiling sadly and offering a small wave to those that looked at him. His girlfriend smiled brightly at Mercedes and Tina who stood in a corner, drunkenly giggling with one another and left Sam to join them. He shoved his hands awkwardly in his pockets, his eyes darting around the room in search of anyone familiar.

Sam was not a social person. Never had been. Plus, he was awkward as _fuck_. Which was exactly why he hated parties. He never knew anyone, and he'd always end up doing something stupid and embarrassing himself. Parties with the glee club, those were fine. Only because he knew everyone. He didn't have to try and impress them, they already liked him, even with his dorkiness and all.

But this? This was not fun. This was a new, cruel, demented form of torture. Fucked up.

Sam looked down and headed over to where the three girls stood. He asked Nicole if she wanted a drink. A drink. That was all he needed to loosen up. Just a few drinks. She nodded before turning back to Mercedes and Tina.

* * *

><p>Okay, so maybe offering Nicole a drink was <em>not <em>such a good idea. Or maybe getting her the constant refills was where he went wrong. But, whatever Sam did wrong, she was drunk. Which was pretty bad, considering the fact that the skinny girl had an _outstanding _tolerance for alcohol.

But now she was clinging onto Sam's side, barely managing to stay standing, swerving from side to side as she laughed with her friends.

"I love you, Sam I Am," Nicole hiccupped after downing the remainder of the liquid in the red SOLO cup she held in her hand. "I really really do."

"I love you too, baby," Sam confirmed, planting a kiss on her blonde head.

"And that's why I feel so bad! So very bad," she slurred, changing their positions so that her hands were around his waist and he was forced to look at her.

"What do you have to feel bad about?" he questioned, sure that this was just one of her drunken rambles. "You're perfect."

"No I'm not!" she stated, shaking her head furiously. "I did a bad thing, a very bad thing."

The sincerity and regret in her beautiful blue eyes were enough to convince Sam that she was being deadly serious. "What did you do, sweetheart? I'm sure it's not that big a deal." He braced himself for a confession, surely about cheating on some exam or something else Sam didn't care about. Which was exactly why Sam's heart broke as the words came out of Nicole's mouth.

"I slept with Puckerman," she said drunkenly, looking down on the ground with shame. At this point, Tina and Mercedes broke off their conversation, looking at Nicole wildly.

"What?" was all he managed to croak.

"Before we were dating, before I even knew you liked me really. I got all jacked up on Grey Goose and slept with him in my car."

His heart rate slowed down, although he was still immensely hurt that she kept this from him the months that they'd been dating, she _hadn't _cheated. "Nicole-"

"Wait!" she ordered, placing a finger on Sam's lips to prevent him from speaking. "I'm really sorry, Sammy."

"It's okay," he managed to spit out under the hard stares of Mercedes and Tina. Of course he didn't mean it, but he didn't really have a right to be pissed. It wasn't when they were dating, it wasn't cheating.

"I kissed him, too," she stated, timidly and ashamed.

A lump formed in his throat. "Of course you did, I'm assuming that when you had sex with Puck, a kiss or two was involved," he soothed, trying to sound positive. That's what she was talking about, right? He tried to block all the things his mind was saying about him being wrong. "You don't have to tell me every detail of your one-night stand."

"No, Sammy," Nicole hiccupped, her voice thick with tears. "Not _that_ time. A different one. A little while after you and Puck had your scuffle, he met me in the parking lot and told me all these feelings he had for me and then he just kissed me! I had absolutely no control. None at all."

The lump in Sam's throat worsened and he felt his stomach fall somewhere near his ass. "After the fight?" Nicole nodded in confirmation, wiping a few stray tears from her flushed and freckled cheeks. "So we were still dating."

"Yeah," she said quietly.

Mercedes let out a small, "oh hell no," and Tina's eyes widened. Even in the two's drunken state, they knew the matter was serious and couldn't find any source for laughter in it.

He felt bile rise in his throat and his face began to feel hot. "Sam, I'm so sorry. It'll never happen again, okay? I pinky promise," she said, attempting to console the boy and holding out her pinky for him to grab.

Sam simply knocked the girl's pinky down with his hand and began to find the anger rumbling inside of him. "You cheated on me," he muttered, mainly for his benefit and not Nicole's.

"I told you I was sorry Sam!" she exclaimed, more tears pouring from her now bloodshot eyes.

"You fucking _promised_ me, Nicole," he spat, his voice barely above a whisper.

The girl's eyebrow quirked upwards in confusion while Tina and Mercedes gave one another an awkward glance. "What are you talking about?" Nicole asked, her tone quiet as well.

"When we were in the nurse's office. When me and Puck fought? After you fixed my nose and stuff, I asked you if you were cheating. You said you weren't and _promised _me you never would." The anger inside him was starting to pour out, his heart beating in his ears. "You fucking promised me and you broke it! You lied to me, Nicole!" At this point, Sam was fuming, Mercedes and Tina were cowering in fear and Nicole just blinked at him hopefully.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I don't know what else you want me to say!" she spattered, clearly flustered. "I'm sorry," she said again, pulling Sam in for a hug.

"Get off of me," he ordered, ripping the girl's grip from behind his back. "Don't fucking touch me. Ever. You lied to me," he said again, his brain not fully grasping the idea. This girl: this girl that had been so sweet to him; the girl that he was infatuated with for months; the one that he thought would never like him because of his flaws but that simply made her more attracted to him. The one that had made him feel so happy and so fulfilled. The one he thought made life worth living. The one he'd fallen so hard for, so fast. The one he _loved. _And now the one that had just ripped the heart from his chest.

Sam felt tears threatening to fall out of his own eyes. "We're fucking _over_," he spat again, shoving through several people to make his way through the door. He heard Nicole call after him and a pair of footsteps follow behind him but he didn't bother to look back.

"Sam," a voice called out to him once he'd gotten outside.

"What?" he growled, roughly looking behind him only to see a thoroughly confused and slightly scared Mike.

"Hey man, what happened in there?" Mike asked softly while walking towards him, attempting to comfort Sam.

Seeing no need to hide his feelings from one of his closest friends, he slowly said, "she fucking cheated, man. She cheated on me with fucking Puckerman. That mowhawked dickwad. I swear I'm gonna kill him the next time I fucking see him." Mike looked at him sadly and pitifully, only adding to Sam's massive humiliation at the moment. "Can you just give me a ride home?"

Thankfully, Mike nodded. "One sec, just let me go inside and tell Tina." The Asian boy left Sam by himself after scurrying inside to find his girlfriend. Sam clenched his face together, pleading that no tears came out. Please, please, just let him leave with a bit of dignity. For fuck's sake, it was the only thing he had left.

_**Yeesh. That was pretty hard-core. Care to leave a review? Please?**_


	12. Please Don't Leave Me

_**Sorry this took me so long, but this was extremely hard to write. I felt like I was ripping my own heart out. And even if you don't enjoy some things that happen, I hope that you can appreciate it. Thanks for reading and remembe, I fucking love reviews. Thanks to Taylor Franics Rose, SmileYouLiveLonger, AdriDark, Undapper Thoughts and XscouselondonerX for reviewing and thanks to anyone else who favorited/alerted.**_

**Chapter 12: Please Don't Leave Me**

**Nicole**

Nicki woke up Sunday morning with a burning headache. She felt vomit creeping up her throat, so she shoved her comforter away from her before running into her bathroom and throwing up the contents of her stomach into her porcelain toilet. After the final few heaves, she spat distastefully and flushed the toilet. Her headache became painfully aware again as she rinsed her mouth out and groaned. Hangovers fucking _sucked_.

Her mouth was dry so she took a cup, filled it with water and returned to her bedroom. She downed the entire cup in record time before grabbing her phone to call Sam and ask if he was as fucked up as she was. Dialing his number, she held the phone to her ear and waited patiently for her boyfriend to answer, wiggling her toes to the beat of the dial tone. On the third ring, she got Sam's voicemail.

"_Huh,_" she thought to herself, a quizzical look plastered on her face, "_weird._" She shrugged before sending him a quick text, asking if he was up. After a few more minutes had passed by, Nicki became much more frustrated. To pass the time, she scrolled through her recent calls, seeing that Sam's number popped up five times in a row, all from last night. They were all calling Sam, none of them returning the call. She became increasingly paranoid and looked at her recent texts. She'd texted him at least twenty times, saying things like, "_i'm sorry," "it was a mistake," _and _"pleeeeeeeeeaseeee talk to me."_

What did she do? Her head burned again as she tried to recall the events of last night. The party, the drinks, the... Puck.

Holy fucking shit. She didn't say that. Oh _fuck, please_ let her not have blurted to Sam about Puck. Fucking _please_. A falling pit in her stomach became prominent and she soon realized that was the truth.

The worst fucking _possible _situation had just happened. Well, maybe not the _worst_. It would've be worse if he'd found out from Puck or someone else.

Her stomach turned and she felt like she was going to throw up again. Swallowing the bile, she called Sam once more pleading that the blonde boy would answer. When he didn't, Nicki resisted the urge to throw her phone across the room and left a voicemail on his phone, telling him that she was on her way over to his motel. If he wasn't going to answer her, then she was going to have to talk to him by force. She jumped out of the bed and threw some clothes on before rushing out the door.

XXX

Nicki knocked on the number eight door hesitantly, part of her questioning whether or not Sam would even answer. Her heart skipped a beat when the wore-down door opened, a small blonde girl standing in front of it.

"Hi Nicole," Stacy greeted enthusiastically. Nicki faked a smile and shrunk down to the smaller girl's level.

"Hey, Stacy," she responded back, her voice nearly breaking from tears. "Do you know if Sam's here? I really need to-" Before she could finish her sentence, Sam appeared in the doorway. Nicki stood up to her full height and offered her boyfriend, if he was still that, a sad smile.

"What do you want, Nicole?" he asked coldly, crossing his arms over his Adonis-like chest.

"What's wrong with Nicki, Sammy?" Stacy impatiently asked her oldest brother, pulling on his shirt. "She looks sad. Is she sick?" Stacy blinked her eyes innocently.

"No, sweetheart," she offered, reaching down and squeezing the smaller girl's shoulder.

"Why don't you go inside, Stac?" Sam told his sister, running his fingers through his blonde locks. Stacy looked at the two distraught teenagers before shrugging her shoulders and retreating inside. A few pregnant seconds passed, Sam looking at the ground and absolutely refusing to make eye-contact. Once Sam was sure that Stacy was inside and out of ear-shot, he spoke, "Why are you here?"

His voice sounded so cold, so detached that it made goosebumps run up Nicki's arms. "To talk to you," she mumbled, her voice nearly breaking.

"Well, I sure as shit don't want to talk to you," he spat venomously.

"Baby-"

"You don't get to call me that anymore," he corrected quickly. "We're over."

"Sam, please!" Nicki whimpered. Her eyes stung with tears and she started to feel sick. "Will you just listen to me, for one second? I need you to hear me out."

She sensed that Sam could hear the immense hurt and pain in her voice and he looked up for a brief moment, looked her up and down and sighed. His eyes were bloodshot, as if he'd been crying recently too. He sniffled and wiped his nose in a swift motion before crossing his arms over his chest again and leaning on the doorframe for support. "Fine," he muttered.

Nicki didn't waste even a second to let out a sigh of relief, she knew that she would only have Sam's attention for a limited amount of time and she had a lot to say. "What happened between Puck and me, it was nothing. It was just a peck on the lips. He means _nothing _to me. You, Sam, you mean _everything._ I'm so so sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want to make you upset; I already know that you have kind of jealousy issues after Quinn –"

His face contorted in confusion at the sound of his ex-girlfriend's name. Nicki winced slightly, wondering if bringing her up was really going to help anything, but screw it. She had to put everything out on the table. "I understand that," she started again, her voice growing stronger and stronger with each word she said. "And I never intended to cheat on you, but you have to believe me Sam. It just happened. So, if you can please find it in your heart to forgive me, sweetheart, I swear to _God_ that I will do anything to make this right." Sam's face had barely moved during her monologue, which terrified her. He stood eerily quiet, looking a mix between somber and furious. "Sam, "she said again, hoping to get his attention.

"Fuck you, Nicole," he growled, making her jump slightly in her boots. "You think that you can just come here, looking all sad and sorry and expect me to forgive you and take you back with open arms? Are you fucking _serious_?" he asked sardonically. Tears began to fall rapidly down Nicki's cheeks over his heartless tone. This was _not _Sam. Not _her _Sam. "You betrayed me. You betrayed me and that's not okay!"

"I know, Sam-"

"Shut up!" he said forcefully. "I'm tired of you pushing me around, making me do things that I don't wanna do!"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Like going to that damn party last night! I didn't want to go, but you made me."

"I didn't make you do anything," she said quickly, defending herself and trading her guilt for anger. Where was this coming from?

"Yes you did!" he said again. "You always make me do stuff. You demasculinize me; I'm tired of being your puppy dog. You don't give me any respect, and I hate it."

"I give you plenty of respect, Sam! Why are you saying all these things! You seemed to be completely fucking fine and happy with our relationship last night. What is wrong?"

"Get out," he ordered softly. "Get out of here, get out of my life. I don't ever want to see you again."

"Sam! Sam, I'm not done talking to you," she pleaded. "Please, just-"Her now ex-boyfriend was not listening to her as he slammed the number eight door in her face, shaking the doorframe.

"God dammit," she muttered, wiping her tears away with her sleeve. She stood at the doorway for a few more seconds before walking to her car and getting in. She started the car and drove away so hastily that she narrowly missed ramming the front of her car into the motel sign.

XXX

She had no idea of where she was driving to, just that wanted to get the fuck away from Sam. He'd been so cold-hearted, so just _cruel, _but she guessed she'd deserved it. It wasn't until she'd turned her car off and was about to take her keys out of the engine when she realized who's house she was parked in front of. The rusty pick-up truck, the skid marks in the grass from nights of drunk parking and the litter of little girl toys scattered among the front yard told her that she'd subconsciously drove to Noah Puckerman's house. Just how fucked up was that? Before snorting humorlessly, she revved her car up again and drove to the Lima Bean, deciding that she needed a coffee; her hangover headache had come back with vengeance.

She walked into the little coffee shop slowly, not really in a rush to go anywhere. She ordered a frozen coffee, realizing that her eyes were probably red, puffy and mascara stained by the strange and disgusted look that the barista had given her. After shooting an equally disgusted look back, she grabbed her drink and sat down at an empty booth.

Fluffing her hair, she took out her purse and worked on fixing her grimy appearance. She'd left the house in such a hurry this morning that she'd neglected to brush her teeth or hair. Groaning, she took a swig of the milkshake-y drink in hope to rid her morning breath. She managed to pull her hair into a ponytail and erase the black streaks from under her eyes when she saw a familiar blonde face striding towards her.

Quinn Fabray's once flowing blonde hair was cropped short and it hung it pieces around her slender face. She wasn't wearing her normal sundress; instead she wore skinny jeans and a black tank with a shredded oversized red tee over top. It was something much more like Nicole would wear, and it gave Quinn an even bitcher appearance. She didn't look anything like her usual self, and it was surprising that Nicki had even recognized her. However, she wouldn't miss those hazel eyes anywhere.

"Hello Nicole," Quinn greeted, sounding sickeningly sweet. She took the seat across from Nicki, not bothering to ask if anyone was seated there.

She groaned, not bothering to hide her tone from the fellow blonde. "What's up with your new look, Sister Christian?" she asked bitterly, taking another slurp of her frozen coffee. "You get tired of being confused for a member of the Brady Bunch?"

"You look like you've had a pretty rough night," Quinn said, looking extremely pleased, as she looked Nicki up and down.

"You don't even know." She narrowed her eyes before attempting to think of a remark that would make Quinn leave the table.

"So, I heard you cheated on Sam with Puckerman," she said, her tone casual. "I must say, it was only a matter of time; I couldn't _stand_ the looks that you and Puck have been giving each other. Practically undressing each other with your eyes."

If this had been a 90's cartoon, Nicki's jaw would've literally hit the table by this point from the sheer surprise of Quinn's words. "How the hell do you know that?"

"_Everyone_ knows," she drawled, fiddling with a chain that hung around her neck. Nicki noticed that it was missing the cross that usually hung on it. "It's all anyone's been able to talk about."

Nicole could feel her cheeks flushing and ground her teeth together. Everyone _already _knew?

"Plus, Sam called me last night and told me. After Mike dropped him off," she added, her lips turning up in a smile. "He was upset, but I managed to calm him down."

"What did you say to him?" she asked accusingly, anger rising in her.

"Slow down, Nicki," Quinn said, having way too much fun for Nicole's comfort. "I didn't tell him anything that wasn't true."

"Fuck you, Quinn," she spat distastefully.

"I just made him realize what a terrible girlfriend you were."

"_I'm _a terrible girlfriend? You got knocked up by your boyfriend's best fucking friend!" she reminded the high-and-mighty girl sitting across from her.

Quinn scoffed, but it seemed as if she didn't have an immediate response for that. "I told him that you treat him like garbage. That you never let him have an opinion."

Cue another over-exaggerated jaw drop.

"Are you kidding me? Why the _fuck _would you tell him that? What is wrong with you, you jealous bitch?" Quinn looked as if she'd just been struck. Bystanders that were sitting or standing by the two quarreling blondes were starting to take notice and look at the girls, wondering if they were about to get in a fistfight.

"I'm not jealous!" she stated, not very believingly, however. "You never deserved Sam! Or Puck, for that matter!"

Nicki scoffed and clenched her coffee tightly in her hands, the lid threatening to pop off at any moment.

"You just waltzed into McKinley like you were freaking _awesome_. I've got news for you. You're _not_. You're a pathetic loser. A slut. And a giant-"

Before Quinn could utter another word, Nicki snatched the lid and straw out of her cup, stood up and splashed the frozen mocha drink directly in Quinn's face. The whipped cream hit her first, splashing on her nose until it slid down her face, giving her a white goatee. Her hair and eyes were drenched with the rest of the liquid. Nicki heard a few gasps from the crowd, making her realize what she'd just done. Although it was an act based purely on impulse, she was pleased with it.

"Don't talk to Sam. Ever again, do you hear me? I'm _not _a slut or a fucking pathetic loser or a giant whatever-you-were-going-to-say. And I am a _damn_ better girlfriend than you _ever_ were to Sam. Don't you remember that you cheated on him too? Except you did a hell of a lot more than I did. You are a hypocritical, jealous, two-faced, mean _mean_ girl. You're a fucking cunt! And I swear to God, if you _ever _say anything like you just did to me again, I will _rip out_ your throat and _shove _it up your ass. Okay?" She took a moment to catch her breath before grabbing her purse and waltzing out of the small shop. She heard a few cheers and whoops as she walked out, and she couldn't help but smirk in achievement. For a moment, she felt genuinely good. Then she thought of Sam, and her heart sunk again. Shit.


	13. Alone

**Chapter 13: Alone**

**Puck**

Puck had gotten a slightly worrisome call from Finn at around ten o'clock on Monday night. He'd called frantically, saying that he had been driving to McDonalds when he saw a girl he'd believed to be Nicole sitting on an empty swing in a nearby park chugging a bottle of whiskey. Finn didn't think that he should've been the one to approach her, in Puck's opinion he was just being a pussy, so he'd called Puck to make sure that she'd be taken care of.

After assuring Finn that he was heading out the door to look for the estranged and presumably drunken blonde girl, Puck grabbed his favorite leather jacket and quickly headed into his truck. Once in the truck, he realized Finn had neglected to tell Puck exactly _what_ McDonalds he'd gone to. Luckily, there were only two in the small town of Lima so he drove to the one that had a park within about a mile radius. He parked in the lot of the park and began walking around. It was chilly out for summer, so Puck hugged his jacket closer to him and swore into the dark night. He began to wonder if he would even be able to find Nicki, it was dark outside and the only light was coming from the dull stars. Just as he was about to pull his phone out of his pocket to call her, he heard the unmistakable sound of sniffling. He turned his head to the sound and heard another round of sniffles, this time louder.

He took a deep breath and walked towards the sound and found Nicki hunched upon a rickety swing with her feet dangling on the ground and a bottle of alcohol sitting below her. Sighing, he hustled to the other swing and sat down. "What are you doing?" he asked blatantly, taking in the surroundings. Nick was only wearing a pair of shorts and an oversized sweatshirt, so her tan legs were covered in goosebumps. Her normally gorgeous blue eyes were red and had dark circles underneath them. She looked sad, depressed and rather pitiful.

She blinked momentarily, as if it was taking her a while to process the question. "Puck?" she asked hollowly.

"Yeah?" he responded.

Frowning, she grimaced before uncapping the bottle and bringing it to her mouth. She poured a shot's worth, swishing the brown liquid around in her mouth and swallowing with a frown. "Get away from me." The command made Puck frown as well, and he continued to look at the girl questioningly. When Nicki saw that he wasn't doing anything that indicated he was leaving anytime soon, she spoke again, "You ruined everything."

"What are you-?"

She set down the bottle before stumbling up. "You, you and your stupid lips ruined fucking _everything_." Her voice broke before she began to shake her shoulders back and forth. "Now I don't have a boyfriend and it's all _your fault_!" After this, she began to sob and collapsed on the ground with her legs crossed Indian-style.

Puck hopped off the swing and sat on the dirt next to the sobbing girl. He tried to put his arm around her in an attempt of consolation, but he was immediately rejected. "Don't touch me!" she cried, shoving him away. "I hate you! I hate you!" She began to weep again, so Puck pushed his slightly hurt feelings aside and held the girl again, rocking her back and forth.

"What happened?" he asked softly as she rubbed her eyes.

"Well, Sam and me, we went to this party," she said between sniffles and hiccups. "And- and I got sorta wasted. And then, and then I told him we had sex." A few extra tears fell down her cheek and Puck flinched. Oh, shit. "But, he wasn't for real mad, though! Like he sounded like he was kinda okay with it! I think." She started to sob hysterically again and pushed her face into Puck's shoulder. He shifted so that it was a bit more comfortable for both of them and petted her hair to comfort her. "Then, but-but then I told him that we kissed. It just- it just kinda fell out! I shouldn't have said it but I did. I'm such an _idiot_! Why didn't I just tell him before? Oh my God!" she wept again, clutching Puck's shirt in her fists. His heart fell as he watched the sobbing girl on top of him. This was sort of his fault. Shit, Sam must want his head on a fucking _platter_. And Puck couldn't honestly blame him.

"So, did you guys, break up?" Puck asked hesitantly, not wanting to step beyond his boundaries of the consoling friend.

"I went over to his place the next day. He was- he was so mean to me! I didn't know that he could be so harsh. He told me," she sobbed again, "that I _controlled _him and he was my 'puppy dog'. I'm the worst girlfriend _ever_."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Puck interrupted, lifting Nicki's head slightly so that they were making eye contact. "You are _not _a bad girlfriend. You're not perfect either, but, babe, no one is. And if Sam told you that-" He hesitated, making sure that he didn't say something that he'd regret later. "Then he doesn't fucking deserve you. Okay?"

"Sam didn't tell me that. Quinn did."

"Wait. How the shit did Quinn get involved in this?"

Nicki sniffled again before backing away from Puck and sitting on her own. She hunched over and hugged her knees to her chest, "After I left Sam's, I went to the Lima Bean and I saw Quinn there." She rubbed her nose again and huffed sadly. "And for some fucking reason, she decided that she _had_ to talk to me. She said that I treated Sam like garbage. That I was a terrible girlfriend and, and-"

She didn't manage to utter another word before she started crying and shaking again. "And she just made me so mad!" she blubbered. "So- so I threw my drink on her, and threatened to, like, kick her ass." Puck barely stifled a snort at the image of that happening. Girls were fucking insane. "Am I?"

"What, hun?" he asked.

"Am I terrible girlfriend?" she cried. "Please, please just tell me honestly. Please."

"You wanna know what I really think?" he asked quietly, rubbing her knee with his palm. She nodded and looked at him pathetically. "I think that you are amazing. I think that you are sweet and funny and bad-ass and I think that Sam is the luckiest guy in the world to have a chance to be with you."

She smiled sadly and wiped her eyes again. "Thank you, Puck," she whimpered. "Thank you so much." Getting on her knees, she crawled to him and embraced him in a tight hug.

It would be so easy. So easy to just, to just get her. She was so vulnerable and emotional right now; with just a few smooth words they'd be doing the horizontal hokey-pokey. And, shit, it would be fucking awesome. She was so warm and her skin was so damn soft. It would feel so nice to kiss her again, to touch her again, to be inside her again…

But he couldn't fucking do it. He couldn't take advantage of her like that. As much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't that guy anymore. If he was going to be with her, it needed to be for real and not something that they would both feel remorse for later.

"No problem," he whispered. They let go of each other and Puck decided to fix this before he succumbed to his urges. "You're freezing, Nick." She looked at the ground in response and rubbed her ice cold legs. "How'd you get here?"

"Walked."

He gawked at her. "You walked?" She nodded. "Shit! Your house is like, 2 miles from here!"

"Really?" she said quietly, furrowing her brows. "It didn't seem that far away…"

"Let me drive you home," he offered, standing up and reaching out an arm to help her up too. Nicki nodded thankfully before walking back to the swing. "Nick?"

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Leave the bottle." She looked at him pitifully, but after Puck gave her a stern look, she sighed and dropped the bottle to the ground. "Fucking unbelievable," he muttered before taking Nicki's arm and leading her to his car.

XXX

Puck had been watching Sam stand outside his house for the past thirty minutes. It had been quite amusing at first to watch the blonde boy pace back and forth, talking to himself; now it was just sad. He didn't quite know what the quarterback's reason was for being here, but Puck was positive that he was gonna get hurt for kissing Nicki. It made him uneasy but then again he knew it was inevitable. Better sooner than later, right?

Within a few minutes, Puck was getting antsy. He'd never been a patient person. As a kid, he'd always peeked at his gifts weeks before Christmas. So right now, waiting for Sam to kick his ass, it was tearing him up inside. He needed this to go fucking faster. And since Sam seemed to be taking his fucking time, Puck decided that it was necessary to take matters into his own hands.

After a few quick breaths, he braced himself and opened his door. Protecting his family jewels, he walked towards Sam and greet the blonde with a nonchalant, "Hey Evans. What's up?"

He seemed to have significantly startled Sam, and it took him a few moments to recognize what was going on. "Puck?" he asked quietly, as if he needed confirmation.

"The one and only," he muttered through a clenched jaw.

Sam looked him up and down a few times, a look of pure hate and betrayal plastered on his face, as he walked towards Puck. The only words that came out of his mouth was, "You son of a bitch," before he raised his fist and powerfully punched Puck directly in his eye. Again.

The force of the hit was strong enough to make Puck stagger backwards while clutching his face. "Okay, I deserved that," he admitted.

"How could you do that?" Sam asked, almost rhetorically. "How could you- how could you just kiss her? She was _my _girlfriend! Why couldn't you just accept that and leave her the fuck alone?" He was breathing heavily, his chest rising up and down with every word he scowled.

Puck was at sort of a loss for words. "I, I don't know, man." Sam's face twisted even tighter in confusion. The brunette lowered his hand to see if there was any blood, and he was happy to see that there wasn't. "I gotta go ice this man. You can come inside if you want so we can talk, as long as you won't hit me again."

"No promises," Sam said truthfully before following him into the Puckerman household. Puck motioned for Sam to take a seat while he went into the kitchen. He returned a couple minutes later with a bag of frozen peas and two sodas, one of which he tossed to Sam. The blonde boy looked hesitantly at the can and Puck before cracking open the top and taking a gulp.

The mowhawked boy put the frozen bag to his already puffy eye before popping open his can too. "It happened a few weeks ago," he started, situating himself in a recliner, "while we were still suspended. I went to school to catch Nicki in the parking lot. She was still kinda pissed about, well, everything. And, I told her- I told her that I was in love with her." Even with one eye, he could see Sam's face drop and his grip on the soda can tighten.

"Was that even true? Or were you just trying to get her in the sack?" he spat.

"At the time, I thought it was true. Now, I'm not so sure." He shook his head, "It didn't matter anyway. She told me to go fuck myself, that she didn't feel the same way. She was with you, and nothing between us was ever going to happen."

"How'd you managed to squeeze a kiss in there?"

"I was trying to make her feel the feelings that I thought she had for me. I kissed her, and she slapped me." Sam smirked. "She smacked me and told me that I didn't have a clue what love was and that I was a womanizer."

"Well that's all great, but if it did really go down the way you said it did, why didn't she just tell me earlier? Right after it happened?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to know? I don't think for her! She's a grown women, she can make her own decisions," he said accusingly. Sam glared at Puck for a moment or two before looking at the ground sheepishly.

"Well, that still was fucked up of her to do," Sam stated, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself. "Even if she really told you off, she still should've told me about it."

"Dude," Puck said, combing his fingers through his mowhawk casually, "no one's disagreeing with you. It wasn't very smart, but hey: everyone makes mistakes."

Sam snorted. "It's, it's not just that, though. I mean, I was talking to Quinn-"

The Jewish boy attempted to hold back a groan at the sound of his ex-girlfriend's, if you could even call her that, name.

"And she was talking about all this other stuff, too. Like, like Nicole always made me do things I didn't wanna do. She-she was controlling." He looked at Puck for confirmation, "Right? And she never gave a shit about what I wanted."

Just as Puck was about to ask Sam what the fuck he was on that was making him say all this when he heard something that made him really upset.

"You know what? She was a waste of my fucking time. I wish none of this had ever happened."

His fists clenched. Nicole had been _so dedicated _to her boyfriend, so much that she wouldn't even give Puck a damn chance. Now, just a few days after they broke up, Sam was saying that she was a mistake? "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Sam seemed to be slightly taken aback by Puck's question. "Huh?"

"Quinn-she must've really fucked with you," he concluded, taking a gulp of soda. "If she made you think that_ Nicole _was a bad girlfriend, I can't even imagine what she said to you."

"What are you talking about?" Sam spat. "Quinn has nothing to do with this. "

"Clearly she does!" Puck laughed humorlessly. "Nicki is a _great_ girl. And you are fucking lucky that you even got a _taste _of what it's like to be her boyfriend."

"Hey, man," Sam interjected, suddenly feeling insulted. "You have no idea of what was going on."

"You wanna know what I do know?" he shouted. Anger erupting inside him, he slammed his can down on the table and stood up. "That Nick loves you. Why, I will never understand. She was crying and crying over you, you douche. You ripped her heart out when you broke up with her and you don't even care!"

"How do you know that?"

"Because I talked to her."

Seeming to also be upset, Sam stood up also and stepped towards Puck. "You talked to her? I thought I told you to stay away from her?"

"Why the fuck do you _care_? I thought she was a 'waste of time'!" Sam shut up fairly quickly but continued to glare daggers into Puck. "Look man, she was drunk out of her mind cause she was so upset. She was crying and she told me everything that happened. " He let out a deep breath, "I don't know shit about your guys' relationship. I'm not gonna act like I do. But, man, she still loves you." Sam looked slightly surprised. "Despite you being a dick to her," he spat bitterly, "she's still head-over-heels for you. And from you coming over here, I know that you still love her too. That shit you were saying that Quinn told you, I know you don't believe it for one second. It's not too late to apologize to her. Not saying that it will be the same as before, but hey, maybe it will be even better."

Sam staggered backwards, looking extremely discombobulated. He ran his hands through his light blonde hair before saying softly, "I gotta go." He didn't say anything else before rushing out the door. Puck watched him curiously.

He tried to frown and his eye instantly radiated pain. "Shit."


	14. Toxic

**_I don't even have the words right now. I am so immensely sorry that this took me four months to write. I was unbelievably confused on where I was going with this story, but now I think I've got it figured out. I think. This will be one of the last chapters, but this story will be finished. I will not leave you without a resolution. To those of you still reading, your amount of tolerance is outstanding. I would've been fed-up with me a long fucking time ago. Let's raise a glass to the reviewers, Katara Melody Cullen, L. Darling, Harajuku Flavors, CharlotteHAJones and Ashilaa and take a shot for the favoriters/alerters who shall remain nameless. I am astounded at how much this story has grown, and it's surreal for me to be the one to have written it. Thanks a million and six bunches. Seriously._**

**Chapter 14: Toxic**

**Sam**

Sam absent-mindedly flipped through the limited TV channels in his motel room. He turned the TV up, hoping to drown out the mass amount of complaints that came from Quinn, who was sitting next to him.

"I can't believe that she did that," Quinn growled as she brushed through Stacy's hair. Stacy winced from her place on the floor, making it obvious to Sam that Quinn was tugging way too hard on his sister's hair. "I mean, who does she think she is?" She twisted her fingers through Stacy's blonde locks, winding it into a French braid. "She completely _ruined _my jeans, and let me tell you, Sam, getting whipped cream off your face is _not _an easy task."

"Yeah," Sam murmured, only half-listening to his ex-girlfriend and trying to focus all his attention on a re-run of _NCIS_. Sam hated _NCIS_, but it was much better than listening to Quinn's rant. Nicki was not exactly someone that he wanted to focus on right now, but once Quinn was talking about something it was almost impossible to get her to stop.

"I mean what a-" she paused, noticing that there were two children in the room, "_mean _girl."

"Who are you talking about, Quinn?" Stacy asked, trying to pull her hair away from her iron-like grip.

Before Quinn could say anything, Sam quickly spoke up, "No one, sweetie."

Quinn looked at him quizzically. "Why won't you tell her?"

"Yeah," Stacy echoed, finally freeing herself and scooting to the nearest wall so her hair was not to be tugged on again. "Why won't you tell me?"

Sam gave the ex-Cheerio an icy glare, "Because she doesn't need to know, Quinn."

"_Why_?" Quinn asked again, frustration coating her tone.

"Stacy's _my _sister, okay? I don't want her to have a bad opinion about-" he stumbled on his words for a few seconds, "her."

"_Why not_?!" she asked accusingly. "You're _not _going to get back together with that evil troll. Why not let Stacy know how_ rude _that girl is?"

Sam's chest heaved, the anger growing in his chest. "Can I talk to you outside?" he asked. He heard Quinn huff, but follow him through the door into the motel parking lot. Shutting the door behind him, he took a calming breath before he spoke to Quinn, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

She scoffed, "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with _you_? That girl broke your heart and now you're defending her?!"

"She didn't break my heart!" he spat out, not realizing what he was saying until he had already said it. His face slacked at the recognition.

"She didn't break your heart? Sam, you're completely delusional."

"You, you messed me up Quinn. Nicole and I never even had a chance and it was because of you," he began, the words soon spurting out of his mouth like vomit. "I was _so _paranoid that she was cheating on me, because of you! I should've let her explain about Puck, I should've heard her out-"

"Sam, this is not my-" Quinn interrupted, looking at Sam with disgust.

"-But instead I called _you._ I don't know what the fuck was going through my mind, but I wanted to talk to you. And instead of being a friend, or _hell_ being a decent _person_, and calming me down- you egged me on! You did some sort of mind-fuck on me that led me to believe that my beautiful, funny, sweet girlfriend treated me like dirt! Yes, Nicole's not perfect, she did lie to me and she doesn't always make the best decisions. There's no excuse for that. But _you_ Quinn are un-freaking-believable. What do you gain from seeing Nicole and me break up? We are _never _getting back together, regardless of what happens between her and me. Does it make you feel better to know that you're not the only one to break my heart? Or are you so possessive and controlling that if you can't have me no one can?"

"Sam-"

"Save it Quinn, I don't want to freaking hear it." Sam's heart was thumping in his chest and his body bounced up and down to release the abundant amount of adrenaline that his body had created. He could see that Quinn was crying now, but he couldn't bring himself to feel bad for her. She _deserved _to feel remorse for what she'd done. "You are toxic, Quinn."

"That's not fair, Sam!" Quinn squealed, tear streaks running down her face. "You can't blame all the problems in your life on me. It is _not_ my fault that Nicole swapped spit with Puck while she was still dating you. Okay?"

Sam stood quiet for a few moments, taking in what Quinn was saying. It was weird, the diverse range of emotions he was feeling: hurt, betrayed, relieved, bitter, guilty and just… confused. However, there were a few things that Sam was positive about. "Not everything is your fault, Quinn, but you need take responsibility of the things that you _did_ do. Until you can do that, you need to stay away from me. I need to fix things in my life and I can't have you misleading me anymore."

"Sam-!"

"I can't do this with you anymore. You need to leave." Quinn stared at Sam for a few more seconds, her eyes wide with tears, her shoulders sunken in defeat and her lip quivering. She took a sharp intake of breath before storming by Sam, getting in her car and driving away.

Once she was a safe distance away, Sam took a deep, relaxing breath. It was odd how calm he felt, he didn't realize how long he'd been holding these feelings and how true they ended up being. He blamed Quinn for a lot of things, and that wasn't fair.

What was that saying his mom always said? Forgiveness isn't for the other person- it's for you. He needed to forgive Quinn, forgive Nicole, and forgive Puck. Sam sighed before heading back into his motel room to see Stacy splayed upon the bed and Stanley flipping through an old comic book of Sam's.

"Where'd Quinn go?" Stacy asked, rolling around on the bed as she spoke.

Sam went up to his sister, lifted her up off the bed and swung her around a few times before sitting her upright on the bed. Taking a seat, he responded, "She had to go."

"When are we going to see Nicki?" Stanley asked, setting the comic book down on his lap.

"Yeah, I miss Nicki," Stacy quipped.

Sam's lips turned up into a smile. "You guys like Nicki?" They nodded. "I'll give her a call, maybe we can hang out with her siblings too, Ashley and Junior."

"Yeah!" Stacy exclaimed, leaping onto Sam's lap.

"Yeah," Sam echoed. He set his chin on top of his sister's head and looked around the room. He hoped that this was going to go well.

**_Okay, sorry for the super short chapter. I figured something was better than nothing, and I hope that's true with this. I'm working on the next chapter, and I hope you guys like it. In the mean time, please review! Pretty please?! And, I began to write a new story while this was on hiatus, it's called _****All I Need** **_and it's about Finn and it's another OC story. Read it if you want. Thanks!_**


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